Change | E.D

Twenty Four

Charlotte

"So how was your day?" Ethan asks me as he walks into his dimly lit bedroom later that night, carrying a bowl of popcorn. He grabs the TV remote and turns it on.

I say from my spot perched on his bed, "Really good. Annie closed the shop early and we went to that Chinese place up the road and just talked."  

Looking the epitome of surprise, Ethan turns his head and meets my eyes with his own. He asks, "She got you to talk? I haven't been able to do that."  

"We didn't talk about depressing things," I tell him stonily, trying to let him know with my tone that I don't want to talk about it right now either. He obviously gets the message by the way his hopeful expression fades away. I say, "And I can't help it if all you and I talk about is yourself. You're such an annoying little chatterbox."  

"I can't help it that I'm so interesting," he argues, that once deflated expression of his perking right up when he realises that I'm in a joking around mood.   

I scoff dramatically, loving so much how he can easily pick up my moods and match it with his own. That's something that I don't have with anyone else, and it's one of the main reasons that I love him so much. No one else can read my like an open book like he does. 

"Interesting...right. More like self-centered."  

"You know what?" he asks completely bemused.

"No....you haven't told me yet," I fire back, my heart feeling so light and happy from our play bickering that's so like the old us. That amazing connection we used to have is still present and going strong; something that makes me giddier than I could ever imagine.  

"That's it," he says, and before I can even blink he's sprung himself completely on top of me.

Squealing in both surprise and utter delight, I try to get out of his grasp and fight back, but he keeps his arms rock solid around me. Seeing as how he's a very muscled-up baseball player, I have no chance at getting away from him, so instead I just give up and peer upwards at his face.   

When I see how light and happy his eyes are, I cannot even begin to stop the silly smile from taking over my face. Somehow or another this wonderful guy is best friends with me, and even when I'm going through absolute hell, we can still make each other smile like it's one of our happiest days.

I have no idea how this has happened, what has made me so lucky to have a guy like him in my life, but I know that there's no way in hell I'd willingly give him up.

After breathing out hard, Ethan says to me, "Now take it back."  

"No way!" I refuse, trying extremely hard not to let the deliciously minty smell of his breath turn me into a crush-ridden little school girl. Right now I just need to be his friend, I don't need to act like I'm still as in love with him as I was two years ago.   

When he leans his face in even closer to mine, so close that our noses are almost rubbing against each others, I can't help but wonder if he does these kind of things on purpose. He has to know how crazy he drives me; both emotionally and physically. So why does he continuously do them? I mean, he knows that I used to be in love with him and he can't be dense enough to think that those feelings will never come back.  

But yet he cuddles next to me when I sleep, he kisses me on the cheek and on the temple, and when he hugs me he holds me right up against him. He has to know that his actions don't exactly turn me off, that they in fact do the exact opposite.   

Is he really that stupid? Does he honestly believe that doing all of these little things don't make me like him even more?

He says warningly, "Take it back...or you're going to regret it."