Who We Once Were - A Jolivia Story

Chapter 12

"So how was your Christmas Liv, and what are you guys doing for New Years?" Ethan asked smiling over the phone camera.

"It was great actually, I really missed my dad so I'm just happy to be home. I'm pretty sure we're just gonna order a pizza and watch the ball drop, same as every year. How 'bout you? Don't you miss your parents and your brother? I can't believe you didn't go home for the holidays!" She said not being able to hide the happiness and smile from her face. Ethan and her had been texting and FaceTiming non-stop for the past couple days. It had been easy to fall back into their old patterns, talking all hours of the night, joking around like no time had passed. 

"I mean ya, I miss them but it's my first year at Uni, so it's nice to have some space y'know?" He said shrugging his shoulder. 

"That makes sense, I still have no clue what I wanna do for school." She sighed.

"Hey c'mon Liv, you'll figure it out, you got time and for now you have the show right?" He offered encouragingly.

"Right," she nodded. "Hey I gotta go now, I only have so much time back home with my dad but we'll talk soon?" She smiled at him with the question.

"Ya definitely, talk soon." He returned her smile. She pressed end on the call, got up from her bed and stretched. Christmas was yesterday and the show's production was on break until after the new year so her mom and her got to go home for a little while. As much as she loved acting, it was nice to have a small break from being forced to talk about how much she loved Josh, well "Ricky", everyday. 

Ethan and her dated for about a year and their relationship was really special to her, it was her first big relationship. Sure they fought a bit, but that was normal for any couple. Their relationship eventually came to an end shortly after she started filming for Hsmtmts. It was a mutual split, well mostly, but it did end after a big fight. Ethan accused her of cheating with Josh which of course she never did and would never had but he was jealous and he didn't like their close friendship. It bugged her at the time, the things he said about her and Josh but in a way she understood where he was coming from, maybe it was her fault for getting too close to Josh. And it wasn't like that would be a problem anymore, Josh and her weren't even on speaking terms anymore, let alone friends.

-

About two weeks later, Olivia was back to filming in SLC, Ethan back to classes at university and both of them back together. They got really close really fast, most likely given their long history, until Ethan eventually asked her to give them another chance just after the new year. She was all too happy to agree, talking to him again made her feel special, wanted, feelings that she'd been without for months. It just felt nice to feel loved again and to not feel completely broken for once. The long distance thing didn't work for them too well before, but this time would be different, she knew it would. 

She was back to work now, reviewing lines, filming and rehearsing in every spare minute of her time. If she wasn't at home sleeping, eating or doing school she was down on set. The first episode of the show was going to premiere at the end of the month, so they were in crunch time now. Eager to get as much as they could done before the flurry of promo events that were going to take up so much of their time. 

It was January 18th, about a week out to the show's premiere date, when after a long day at work, she entered the parking lot to see her mom's car no where in sight. All she wanted to do was go home, curl up in her bed to escape the cold Utah air and sleep. She took a deep frustrated breath and pulled out her phone to text her mom. 

"Hey Liv, need a ride?" Called Julia as she was getting into her car.

"Thanks Jules, but I should probably just wait. My mom should be here soon." She smiled and waved the other girl goodbye. The rest of the cast was still filing through the doors when a familiar black car pulled into the lot, parking next to where she stood. She was trying to place where she knew it from when the driver got out of the car. In a second a wide grin had spread across her face and she was running and jumping into his arms.

"Omg Ethan!" She said wrapping her arms tightly around him. "I missed you so much." She smiled before pulling away. "What are you doing here?" She asked furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Hi babe, I had about a week off school and figured I'd come down and see you. I asked your mom to let me pick you up today because I wanted to surprise you!" He said smiling excitedly. 

"I'm so happy you're here," she said staring into his eyes longingly. 

"Ya?"

"Ya." She confirmed as she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, one which he returned gratefully. 

"C'mon let me get you home, I'm staying in a hotel not too far from your place so we can hang out all the time this week." He said throwing an arm around her shoulder lazily.

"Um ya, definitely." She laughed a little but he knew this was a busy week for her, she just hoped he didn't blame her for it. "Just uh, one sec." She said looking back over her shoulder, maybe she was just being paranoid but...

"Everything okay babe?" He said a little confused as he followed her line of sight and came up empty-handed.

"Ya, ya it's nothing." She said brushing it off and getting into the car. Maybe she was just being paranoid but she could've sworn she felt someone's eyes on her while she reunited with her boyfriend. 

A/N - Hey guys I know there's not much Jolivia content in this chapter but this story is kinda slowburn, I promise it is coming eventually!!! Also if you didn't get the vibe from this chapter, I was trying to imply Ethan's kinda a little toxic, hope that came through. To clarify this had nothing to do with the actual person, I just needed it to happen for my FICTIONAL storyline. Also lastly, all the Jolivia and cast drama is so depressing. I'll continue to write because once again although it's based on real people, my story isn't real. As always please vote and comment and I'll see you all again soon!!