i think it's love | ethma

sixteen

Things are different again. They don't tell anyone, though.

But Ethan comes by a lot more, even when Grayson isn't around the house, and the antagonism has faded exponentially. Emma's fairly certain that her mother, Dayton and Grayson have noticed it, if she's going by the raised eyebrows that she sees after she tells Ethan "Thanks," when he passes her the salad and he smiles at her in response.

Oh yes. They're the picture of a platonic friendship.

And if he fingers her once in a while against the bookcase in her bedroom with a hand clamped over her mouth, well, that's really got nothing to do with it.

Will comes by for the first time since he's been discharged from the hospital and he and Emma lie on her bed for hours, just talking. Will tells her Ethan said he was glad to see him back on his feet and that it creeped him out, and Emma just laughs because Ethan cares so much it's ridiculous.

The person who stabbed Will is a twelve year old girl named Mary. From what Emma is told, her entire family died in the pipeline explosion and she thought killing Wells would tmake her feel okay.

In any case, they say she'll remain in state custody and maybe move into rehabilitation programs if she's convicted.

Emma doesn't know how to feel about it, and if the way Will's mouth twists down at the information is any indication, he feels the same way.

-

One night, all three of them, Emma, Ethan, and Grayson are hanging out in Emma's room, playing Monopoly because for some reason Gray loves that game. When Grayson finally retires to his bedroom after several wins, Emma expects Ethan to leave immediately. It's quite late at night, after all.

He doesn't.

He helps her clean up the game, and they talk for a while. Mundane things, mostly. When Ethan goes to put the board game on the shelf, he ends up picking something else. "What's this?"

She turns around and instantly blushes; it's an old sketch of hers, back before she even knew the Dolans. It's white chalk on black card paper, a sketch of the Moon. "It's shitty, that's what," she snorts, marching up to snatch it from him and put it back on the shelf, this time face down.

He picks it up again and stares at it. "I didn't know you were so good at art."

"I'm not," she mutters.

He looks up at her. "How is it that I've been in your life four years and I didn't know you were an artist?" He sounds disbelieving.

She smiles, a little self-deprecating. "We didn't exactly spend our time together talking about ourselves."

"Yeah, we just argued a lot, didn't we?" He looks to be mulling it over as he stares at her artwork. "That's all we did. For no reason."

"How much time did we lose?" she wonders aloud, and she feels it in her heart, a pang of something like regret over all the time they could have had to get to know each other that she thinks they're just discovering now.

"Nothing that we can't make up," Ethan says, and is it just her or is his voice a little raspier than usual? He slowly puts the piece of black paper down on the table, and she's suddenly mesmerized by the way his tongue darts out to lick his bottom lip.

He takes a step closer and Emma feels her own lips part in anticipation.

He's going far too achingly slow for her, so she reaches out and winds her arms around his neck, drawing him closer. His hands close around her waist as if it's the most natural thing to do.

Their faces drift closer, patient, as if they've got all the time in the world. When their noses bump against each other, Emma tilts her head slightly in expectation, lips parting slightly.

The door opens just as Ethan smoothly takes a large step back.

Sophia pokes her head through the doorway. "Ethan? You're still here?" She sounds surprised. "What are you two doing at this time?"

Emma is incapable of speech at this moment. She's certain there must be a flush on her cheeks giving away to everyone in the world that she's romantically involved with Ethan Dolan.

"I was just leaving," Ethan replies, and Emma feels the loss of him for every step away from her he takes. He pauses at the door, though, and his eyes are piercing. "I'll see you later, Emma."

"See you," echoes Emma in a squeak. It's then that she notices the curious expression on her mom's face at her tone. "Hopefully not too soon, asshole," she adds quickly, and watches the curiosity drop off her mom's face and an eyeroll take its place.

She hears Ethan laugh as he walks down the hallway. "Feeling's mutual."

Oh, it certainly is.