Unexpected

13

EMMA POV

The second my eyes opened the next morning, thoughts of my date with Ethan flooded my mind. I was practically still reeling from our romantic kiss on the Ferris wheel, the way he slung me over his shoulder as he raced back to the car, and especially how he wrapped his arms around my waist for that final, feverish goodbye.

I sat up and stretched my arms out, my body aching from the awkward ball I had fallen asleep in. I reached for my phone to check my messages and text Ethan to thank him, but my my blissful reminiscing was harshly interrupted. I could feel the deep frown forming on my once relaxed features, my stomach churning at the sight of the small screen.

E🤠: Good morning beautiful
- Emma?
- Hey, I know you're probably sleeping and I don't mean to be blowing up your phone.
- Just text me when you see these ok
- Alright I'm just gonna say it before someone else does. Don't go on social media
- Emma?? Please respond

I ignored his request foolishly. My shaky fingers tapping on the blue twitter icon. My mentions were filled with tweets and photos asking about Ethan and I's relationship or lack thereof. The knot forming in my throat doubled in size as I scrolled through countless sneaky photos of Ethan and I laughing at dinner, holding hands at the carnival, even a blurry shot of us kissing against his car.

I felt sick to my stomach, paralyzed at the realization we had been outed before getting a chance to even discuss what we had between us. I knew better than to try and deny it. Especially when it was so clearly us in many of the pictures. It wasn't that I was embarrassed of being with Ethan or trying to hide my relationship. Things were just so fresh I was nowhere near ready to go public. But, the news was out there was nothing I could about it. If there was one person who knew how to face a sister scandal it was James.

I jumped out of bed, pulling on whatever random clothing items were strewn across my room. I had to talk to James and Ethan. I debated on who to call first before dialing the number and rushing out of the house.

—

"I feel sick." I groaned, resting my forehead against the cool metal table. I felt a hand run across my back, the soothing gesture unable to relax the tension in my muscles.

"Hey sorry I'm late." James plopped into the seat across from me, throwing his bag and keys on the table carelessly like he wasn't just holding my rent and entire life savings in his hands.

I sat up propping my chin on my hand, the sudden movement sending waves of nausea through my body.

"Thanks for coming." Ethan said, running a shaky hand through his hair. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the entire situation. A man once so private, outed by one carefree night.

James shrugged, "s'no problem. I don't see what the big deal is anyways. You guys are dating whoop-dee-do." He twirled a manicure fingered in the air, emphasizing his lack of urgency about the situation.

"I don't know I just never dealt with something like this before." I admitted. I stared at the untouched iced coffee sitting in front of me. Not even that could cheer me up. The film of melted ice made it just that much more unappetizing.

"I...we weren't ready to announce it. I don't even know how to react at this point." I was grateful Ethan spoke up. At the time it seemed like such a good idea to corral a damage control team together, but being here now made me regret leaving my bed.

"Well you have two options...ignore it. Which, may I add, isn't really an option. Or own it." James said simply. He waved over our waitress and ordered a full breakfast and an orange juice, at least one of us was going to take advantage of the extensive menu this cafe had to offer. Ethan and I couldn't stomach the thought of food when it felt like our lives had just come crashing down on us.

"My manager is pissed." Ethan shook his head in frustration. "I'm supposed to run shit like this by her."

"Oh who cares it's just a little relationship." James waved off Ethan's concerns with a flick of his wrist.

The word relationship made me cringe. I hoped no one had noticed. How was I supposed to announce a relationship to the world when I didn't even know if I was in one in the first place?

"So what do we do then?" I asked, hoping James had the magic key to make this all go away.

—

ETHAN POV

"So we're really doing this then?" I asked reaching for my phone.

Emma nodded, burying her face behind her knees. I couldn't help but admit how cute she looked when she was worried. I wanted to smooth the frustration away from between her eyebrows, kiss her forehead, and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"I just wanted to talk to you about something first. Clarify really." She said quietly. Her voice was barely audible. I nodded encouraging her to continue. "I just wanted to say I'm not upset because I don't want people to know about us. It's not like I planned to hide you or some shit."

The thought hadn't crossed my mind, but I was still relieved to her those words.

"It's just that I wanted to wait till we were both sure this was what we wanted. I wanted to keep you to myself for a little bit. I didn't want things to go public so soon before we even got time alone to enjoy." She let out a sigh and looked at me, searching for a response in my features before I could verbally give her one.

I gave her a smile to reassure her I wasn't upset. I couldn't be, especially when the same thoughts were running through my head. "I know. You don't have to explain yourself."

"Ready?" She asked.

No. I nodded anyways.

@ethandolan: well....the cats out of the bag
🐱🎒

@emmachamberlain: I know I'm as shocked as you all are someone actually wants to put up with me.

James words replayed in my head. Just be authentic. Don't try to force some overly edited statement. They'll totally be able to see right through it. It needs to be on brand. It was ironic, trying to be genuine and calculated at the same time. This was what this entire career was built on, being yourself but not offending anyone. Stay true to yourself, but not changing too much. Growing up, but still being the same immature 15 year old I was when I started. I picked up my phone again and continued typing. I didn't care if this was the correct way to respond, I needed to say it.

@ethandolan: hey guys I hope you can understand and respect our privacy in this moment. Yes I am seeing someone, it's all very new. I love sharing my life with you guys, but somethings need to be kept private. I hope you can understand and give us the space we need to develop our relationship. I would never purposely keep secrets from you guys, but we're just not quite ready to put this part of our lives on social media. Again I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. All the love, E.

"Was that too much?" I asked as she skimmed through my tweet. "I know it's not exactly what we discussed."

"No it's perfect. Funny then serious, very on brand for you." I laughed at her usage of the term, the tension in my chest easing slightly.

"So...where do we go from here?" She stood up from my bed, and walked across the room to where I sat. Emma stood between my legs, resting her hands on my shoulders and looking down with a sly grin.

I wrapped my arms around her thighs and pulled her closer, wanting to feel her body against my chest. "We take things slow. I get to take you on more dates." I spoke slowly, bringing her closer with every word till she was almost in my lap. Right where I wanted her. "You get dressed up, spend hours deciding what to wear and then finally...you agree to be my girlfriend."

(Hiiiii guys thank you for reading and for your lovely comments. I hope you are all enjoying my story x)