Catch Me [Teen Romance]

17

The lights came on almost five minutes later, I took Ethan's hand and we left the House of Mirrors. 

"Wait, shouldn't we tell the others we're going?" he asked, glancing back even though none of our friends were in sight.

"It's ok; I can call Grace and let her know"

"OK, Ava - where are we going?"

"You'll see"

We stepped outside and I couldn't believe how dark it had suddenly become, the rain was bouncing off the floor and the carnival seemed to have emptied by half, it was thundering also, loud deafening rumbles roared through the air, the lightning was pretty impressive too. My family and friends had always found me weird for being a huge fan of storms, there was something so beautiful about heavy rain, and I could just sit and watch it for hours.

It didn't take Ethan and I long to reach the place where we could talk in private, probably the only place in this town that I was fond of - the quarry where my grandmother used to take me when I was a little girl, right before she died.

"You drew this in art class" he remembered, staring at me astonished.

"Wow, I didn't realise I was that good" I boasted jokily.

"You shouldn't put yourself down all the time" he shook his head, his hair now completely soaked through. In fact, our whole bodies were drenched, I hadn't noticed properly until now.

"It's just something I do" I shrugged.

"This place - it's amazing" he breathed as we made our way through the trees and stumbled upon a flat log where we decided to sit.

"I know" I nodded, a sad feeling welling up inside of me. "I come here a lot, on my own, sometimes, I dunno, it's stupid I guess, I just..."

"Ava, shut up" his jaw tightened "You're doing it again. You don't have to constantly explain yourself"

"Ethan, can I ask, why did you... kiss me, so randomly back there?"

"So randomly?" he repeated the words back to me with a laugh "I think we both knew that wasn't random, It's something I've needed to do for ages"

"Oh so you just thought you'd try whilst I was on my own, in the pitch black darkness, scared to death..."

"Pretty much yeah" he sniggered to himself "but don't say you didn't want me to, don't say it hasn't crossed your mind..."

"I wasn't going to say anything, I brought you here didn't I?" I said suggestively "So, you wanted to talk..."

"Uh yeah, I think, well - you deserve to know"

I simply nodded, fearing if I talked he'd change his mind, again.

"I want to tell you Ava, I didn't realise it'd be this hard, even now...maybe coming here was a mistake"

"Ethan, you know I would never tell anyone"

"Yeah, of course I do. But I also know that once you find out the full story, you'll want nothing to do with me, and that's selfish I know but I don't think I could deal with you hating me..."

"Believe me I've tried, and I can't hate you. So you don't have to worry about that"

He took a large gulp and closed his eyes "So you want to know everything right? Because it's sort of a long story, and I don't want to make you late home"

"Yes, everything and don't worry about me getting home"

"OK" he nodded, looking up at me carefully, his face expressionless as always, "It happened about 2 years ago, the day my parents were supposed to renew their vows, my dad's family always had this tradition that after twenty years of marriage, you renew your vows, it's weird I know..." he shook his head in embarrassment.