hidden | ethma

thirty six

i look at ethan with confusion. "what?"

ethan crosses his arms over his chest. "in the organization, i work closest with zeke, levi, nate, and max. it's been two years now, and there has been more than one time that we've thought of..." ethan clears his throat. "that we've thought of rebellion."

i blink. "rebellion?"

"if we can turn on alec, he might back down and let us go without a trace. we won't turn him in if he won't turn us in." ethan sighs. "but there's always one idiot that doesn't like the idea."

"who?"

"anne." ethan rolls his eyes.

i look at my lap. "why did you become involved with these people?" i ask.

ethan tenses. "i was at a shitty time in my life." he says. "and i had no choice."

my phone suddenly goes off, startling us both. i bring the phone to my ear and answer. "hello?"

"em! em, em, emma," aaron slurs on the other line.

"aaron, are you drunk?" i ask, furrowing my brow.

"no, no i'm nooot," he says and then bursts into laughter.

"you told me you were at work."

"i always tell you i'm at work."

ouch.

"so you've been lying to me?" i raise my voice and ethan looks at me confusedly.

"no, you've just been gullible," he says and i hang up, anger coursing through me.

my skin is hot with rage and i take calming breaths that really don't do much to calm me. all this time, he's been lying.

"douche."

i look over at ethan. for a moment, i had forgotten he was there. his short statement broke my angry train of thought and i don't think i've ever been so grateful that ethan was next to me.

he pulls something out of his pocket and i almost laugh and cry at the same time when i find that it's a snickers bar.

"do you carry those everywhere?" i ask.

"pretty much," he says, opening it and breaking off half for me. "they keep my stress levels down." he looks at me. "unlike you."

i roll my eyes at him, stifling a laugh.

we eat our chocolate in silence, looking out at the city.

"what are you going to do?" ethan asks me.

i shrug. "i'm going to need to talk to him, that's for sure." i frown.

ethan looks at me for a moment longer before looking down and rising from the bench.

"lunch break's over in five," he says.

i nod and stand, following him down the stairs and back into the elevator. this is one of the only times ethan and i have had a civilized conversation — well, maybe the topic wasn't so civil, but at least we weren't insulting each other.