ethan & emma: talking with you.

The Conversation in the Living Room

A/N: If you're new to this fic, welcome! This is an update from the future to let you know that this fic is intended to be a slow burn. This book contains scenes from their love story, as in moments that propelled their relationship forward. It does pick up the pace a lot in later chapters, so if you like this realistic take on Ethma, I'd say keep reading. It gets better, trust me. :) 

Disclaimer: I admire Ethan and Emma both as creators and as people. This story isn't intended to presume they are in any sort of relationship, it is only for fun. Hope you enjoy!

"There is no telling how you will love when you do, if you will let it consume you or free you. If love is a chain-link fence or a pair of wings. If love comes on a Monday morning or a Sunday afternoon. Who knows what gifts or sorrows it will bring?

But we all know the story of how love begins, if you think back to when it last left. And if you've forgotten, let me remind you. How love never really ends. How your heart burns with passion the same way it breaks and beats, again and again, and again."

-Lang Leav. 

August 2018. Los Angeles, California.

Emma had suspected her feelings for a while. The way her chest grew warm when she was around him, and how sometimes she lost her train of thought while they were talking. But Emma couldn't have foreseen what would happen and all that would come from one conversation.

She was lounging on the black couch in Ethan and Grayson's living room, her hair tickling her shoulders. The AC was on full blast, so she had curled her legs up against her chest, socks poking out of the thick white blanket she had draped across her shoulders. Despite the fact that it was August, the sun was still boiling the pavement outside, and the twins were compensating by freezing their house.

It was when Grayson stood up that Emma first started to feel butterflies.

"I need to go shower," Grayson said, stretching his arms in front of him and cracking his wrists. Even his voice was groggy. "It's getting too late for me. I need sleep."

Emma and Ethan looked up at once. The clock near the fireplace read 12:43 in the morning.

"Okay. See you tomorrow," Ethan said. He caught Grayson's eye for a second. He was just smiling, casual, but sometimes it was painfully obvious that the two were communicating without saying anything aloud. She wondered with a burst of nerves why, at this time and place, they needed to talk without speaking.

"Have a good night," Emma said, keeping her voice light.

"Night," Grayson responded, lifting his hand in a tired farewell before disappearing into the hallway.

Emma became unavoidably aware of the fact that it was just her and Ethan in the room.

She had just returned from a trip back to San Francisco to visit her mom. After arriving in Los Angeles five hours ago, exhausted and sleep-deprived from travel, she banished any chance at sleep when she chugged a Venti coffee with four shots of espresso.

She had texted Ethan that she would go crazy if she sat in her apartment for the rest of the night, so he told her to come over and they could hang out for a bit. He and Grayson had a meeting earlier that day but nothing scheduled afterward, so they had been bored since noon.

Emma pulled into Ethan and Grayson's driveway at 7. They managed to go swimming, postmate Chipotle, play Mario Kart, and retire to the couch to mess around on their phones for an hour and Emma was hardly tired at all. In fact, it was the opposite. She felt energized, awake... unusually aware of her body. Her hair tickling her shoulders. Goosebumps along her arms. The waist of her jeans were digging in slightly across her stomach, and the blanket was soft against her legs.