Love Isn't Always A Fairy Tale {Teacher/Student Romance}

Chapter 9- Surprise?

When we were finished with dinner, my mom ‘suggested’ that I take Ethan for a walk on the beach. When I say she ‘suggested’ I mean that she told me that I was taking him… Not in front of him she acted all polite, but when we went to the kitchen to take the plates. Her exact words where ‘take him for a walk.’ Then she gave me the look.

The look that says I don’t have a choice to say no, not that I really would have anyway. Okay so maybe I would have, but only because I think my mom is planning something. What could she be doing? What is she thinking? I am so deep in my own thoughts, that I didn’t hear Ethan talking to me. Not until I felt him lift me up and throw me over his shoulder.

“Ahh!! Ethan what are you doing?” I scream at him, although I’m not going to complain about the view of his backside. HeHeHe I’m bad…

“Oh so now you are going to pay attention to me?”

“I was paying attention to you I swear.” I lie to him. I have no clue what he was talking about. God I hope he doesn’t ask what he said.

“Okay so what did I say?” Damn that’s what I didn’t want him to ask.

“Ummm…”

“See that’s what I thought.”

“Okay I admit I wasn’t paying attention. I’m sorry please put me down.”

“I don’t know I kind of like carrying you around.”

“Ethan please put me down.”

“Well if I do will you pay attention to me?” He asks, and I sigh.

“Yes I will try.” He puts me down and smiles at me.

“So did you like the view?” He asks and I hit him in the arm, and turn around to walk away. “I was kidding. So what were you thinking about?” He asks catching up to me.

“I don’t know a lot of things. Mainly my mom I think she is planning something.” He gives me a weird look. It’s a mixture between amusement and fear.

“Okay… So what do you think she is planning?”

“I really don’t know, but when we went into the kitchen she pretty much told me I had to take you for a walk. So it’s something that she doesn’t want you to know about either… I just don’t know.”

“So should I be scared?” He asks, we look at each other and both laugh.

“I seriously doubt it… They loved you tonight, and to think you were nervous.” I tell him nudging him with my shoulder as we were walking. He looks at me smiles, and then nudges me back.

“Hey I had a right to be a little nervous. I was having dinner with not only new neighbors, but they also happen to be the parents of one of my students.” He looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. He stops walking and stands there and looks at me. I can’t read his expression, but I can tell he has something on his mind.

“What is it Ethan?” I ask talking a step closer to him.

“Well I was just wondering… Today when you were running, you know before you ran into me, there was something wrong wasn’t there. You looked like you had been crying.” He stops when I look down at the ground. “I’m sorry you don’t have to tell me. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” I looked back up at him. Aww that was so sweet. A part of me wanted to tell him about my ex, but I wasn’t ready for that yet.

“It’s nothing… I was listening to a song on my IPod that brought back some bad memories. Memories of my ex-boyfriend…” The last words were barely a whisper. I could feel the tears behind my eyes, the same ones that always threaten to fall when I think about him, talk about him, or even hear his name.

“I’m sorry Skylar… Do you want to talk about it?” Ethan asks and I look up into his eyes. There’s so much emotion in his eyes. There is pain, sorrow, anger, and there’s something else. Love?? No I can’t say that… I won’t say that. I can’t believe that he actually cared… He cared about what happened, and wanted to know what happened. Wanted to actually hear about it, and I wanted to tell him about it. This is so unlike me. This man is doing things to me…

I bite my lip, and look at the ground. I hear him take a breath, and look back up at him. He is standing there looking at me with his gorgeous green eyes, full of emotion, and I have never wanted to kiss someone so bad. I shake my head to get the thoughts out of my head, and take a small step back. I look at the ground take a deep breath, and then look back up at Ethan.

“I don’t know. I want to talk about it, but I don’t know if I’m ready yet…” I tell him, and I see the hurt in his eyes. I look down at the ground. Why did that hurt him?

“Do you still love him?” He asks, and I snap my head back up.

“Hell no!” I almost yell at him, and he laughs a little. I see the pain leave his eyes, and I see relief on his face. “Sorry I didn’t mean to yell. No I don’t love him anymore… He just he put me through hell, and remembering it still hurts. A part of me misses the relationship.” He looks at me and I sigh. “It sounds stupid I know. You probably don’t understand.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a hug. Being in his arms made me feel safe and giddy inside. It felt like heaven.

“Let me guess you miss the companionship. You miss having that person there with you all the time. You miss the love that you felt before it all went to hell. You don’t love them anymore, but you miss the closeness, the intimacy, the love that was there before all the pain came. You miss what was before the fall. Does that come close?” He asks letting me go, and looking down at me. He frowns a little when he sees the tears in my eyes. I don’t answer I just wrap my arms around him, and pull him back to me. Then I nod my head to answer his question. I don’t trust my voice yet.

He wraps his arms around me and holds me. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t ask questions, he’s just there. After a little while I shiver a little, and he looks down at me, but doesn’t let me go.

“Are you getting cold?” He asks, and I look up at him.

“Yeah a little.”

“Well are you ready to head back?”

“No” I answer and he laughs a little, and wraps his arms tighter around me.

“Well can I tell you something?” He asks and leans down to whisper in my ear, “I’m not ready to go back either.” He leans back up and it feels like there is lava in my veins. My whole body is hot. I feel myself start to blush. I don’t dare look up to meet his gaze. If I do I don’t think I could control myself. We stand there for a little longer, and then I gradually pull myself away. Without speaking he puts his arm across my shoulders, and we turn and head back. When we’re halfway there I stop and look up at him.

“Ethan?” He looks down at me and smiles.

“Yes Skylar?” He asks, and I melt a little inside. I love the way he says my name.

“I want to thank you.” He looks down at me, and for a minute I wonder if he will understand what I am thanking him for. Then he smiles and pulls me close for a moment. I wrap my arms around him loving how it feels to have him this close.

“You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do anything…I didn’t say anything, I was just here.”

“I know and that’s what I needed. You just held me. You made me feel safe…” I hope he doesn’t ask why I liked feeling safe, and thankfully he doesn’t. He just holds me a little tighter, and then lets me go.

“Well anytime you need me Skylar for anything. Just know that I am here.” I let his words sink in for a minute I want to ask what he meant by anything, but I don’t…

“Thank you Ethan…”I tell him and kiss him on the cheek,  “Now let’s head inside I’m cold.” I tell him and he lets me go and we head inside The Shack… I walk in and see that there are no more customers. It’s only like 8:00 there are normally more people than this, and then I see the piano in the corner. So that’s what she was planning… Should have seen this one coming...