Unexpected

4

ETHAN POV

"Emma, wait. Will you stay with me for a minute?" I wanted to say those last words, but I stopped myself. I wanted to ask her to stay. I wanted to see where this could go. I didn't know if it was a moment of clarity or just pure cowardice, but I chose to say nothing instead.

She turned to look at me, waiting for me to finish. I knew I still had a chance to speak those words that were so close to slipping off my tongue.

"Nothing. I just wanted to say goodnight." In the end I said nothing. I hoped I wouldn't regret it.

"Good night, Ethan." She said with a smile. She clicked the lights off and in that moment I knew I had truly lost my chance.

I let my head fall back on my pillow with a thud and stared at the ceiling. Whatever sleepiness I felt had escaped me. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep with all of these confusing emotions on my mind. What would Grayson and James say if i even thought about the possibility of pursuing Emma? More importantly was this all in my head or was she maybe feeling even just a glimmer of the emotions I was going through?

It was all too much to consider at once, so I rolled over and forced my eyes shut hoping to at least get an hour of sleep.

I couldn't.

—
EMMA POV

When I opened my eyes again, the light was cascading a pool of golden sunshine onto my hardwood floors. The clock read 10 am but I was feeling surprisingly energized even after staying up with Ethan till 4 am.

Ethan

He slept here last night...

I was instantly reminded of the moments we shared and the confusion I had felt last night. I was so bad with crushes. I fell hard and fast and I always ended up hurt. I wouldn't let that happen with Ethan. Our friendship was too important to mess up because I got in my feelings after he showed me kindness one night.

I pushed everything to the back of my mind and focused on the day ahead of me. My phone was still off so I clicked it on, surprised by the flood of notifications I was met with.

Sister squad 🤪 (150 unread messages)
James Charles 💋 (4 missed calls)
Grayson 😼: can we talk
E 🤠: hey Emma

Before I could respond to anyone I had yet another incoming call from James.

"Hello?"

"Hey kitty girl!" James sounded excited and way too chipper for my liking. I had just woken up and couldn't imagine having the energy to sound that peppy over the phone. "What are you doing?

"Nothing I just woke up." I got out of bed and started walking towards my kitchen with James on speaker phone. I was nearing the living room when I realized I had left a sleeping Ethan on my couch. I looked down at my pantless legs and panicked. As I tiptoed closer I realized the couch was empty. The coast was clear.

"Perfect! Meet me at the coffee shop around the corner of your place in 15 okay" James said, emphasizing on the time frame, he knew I was always late. The line clicked on the other end and i realized he had hung up before I even got a chance to agree.

To my surprise, the couch didn't need to be cleaned up. The blankets and pillows were neatly folded and stacked at the edge. On the coffee table there was a note wedged under the center piece my mom has bought me as a housewarming present. I smiled to myself, what could it be?

Emma,
Sorry I didn't wait for you to wake up, I had an early morning call time but you already knew that...there's an almond milk latte in the fridge for you. I hope you like it
Xx - E

I could have almost squealed in that moment. I didn't care if we were just friends, i couldn't believe how thoughtful Ethan was. I ran to the kitchen and yanked opened the fridge door. He had even gotten it from my favorite coffee shop. Wow, he really thinks about things.

—

"Wow bitch you couldn't even wait for me to get here to order?" I looked up from my phone and saw James standing before me with a hand on his hips and grimace on his face.

"I did wait, I didn't order anything. This is from earlier and hello to you, too." I rolled my eyes and stood up to give him a hug. He was such a drama queen.

"Oh well you could've told me you had coffee already we could've met somewhere else." James said, plopping down on the seat across from me.

He looked far better than I did. Perfect hair, perfect makeup; he'd put anyone to shame. I on the other hand had the same bun I'd slept with and sunglasses to cover the lack of sleep.

"First of all, you didn't even let me respond to you before you hung up. And secondly, Ethan left this for me in the fridge this morning. I didn't know about it when I was on the phone."

"Hold up" He said, holding a manicured finger up to my face. "Rewind. You saw Ethan this morning?"

"Not exactly. He slept over last night and when I woke up he was gone. All he left was a note and the coffee." I shrugged nonchalantly, but inside I was screaming like a little kid. I wanted to jump around and gossip with James about the night we had spent together, but at the same time I didn't want to say anything at all. It felt so special and personal to me I wanted to keep it to myself so I could keep living my fantasy, not say it out loud and admit that it was nothing more than two friends hanging out.

James' jaw dropped the second I finished telling him about my morning. He looked shocked and confused, like he was still trying to piece the details together in his head.

The waitress came over and I was saved by the bell. I would still have a few more sweet seconds to savor my fantasy before James and reality smacked me in the face. We ordered our breakfast and drinks and thanked the waitress before James had a chance to bombard me with more questions.

"Wait Emma what the hell? Ethan slept over at your house last night?? I need details hun and all of them. Is this like a thing? What did he say? What was he doing there in the first place?" James' words all blurred together in one big jumbled mess. He spoke fast to begin with, but this was almost too much for my brain to process.

"Okay breathe and slow down. It's not like that at all. He came over to check if I was okay after the whole Grayson thing and then we were just talking about random stuff on my balcony. It got really late so I offered to let him crash on my couch. That was it." Was I leaving out some details? Sure. But what was the point of telling James anything further when all the juicy details were probably just a figment of my imagination.

"You're telling me a hot ass guy slept over your place in a purely platonic way? Yeah right he's totally into you." James wasn't going to drop it, no matter how much I wanted him to. I didn't want him to give me any more false hope. It didn't matter if i was starting to question my feelings towards him.

Ethan wasn't into me.

(A/N: hi lovies. If you made it this far I want to thank you for reading!! I started writing it on a whim and I didn't think anyone was going to read it...at all...like ever. If you're liking it so far please vote and comment so I know. And let me know if you want me to continue xxx)