DECEPTION | sᴄʀᴇᴀᴍ 6. ✔︎

SIX

Ethan's eyes raked over the group, looking for someone, before they landed and stopped on Brienne. He scanned her features quickly before changing which leg he had his weight on. He stood there awkwardly, waiting for the girl to move towards him.

"Brienne, will you go with him already, so he'll leave!?" Mindy questions harshly, making the blonde girl purse her lips before she stood up and begrudgingly made her way towards Ethan. Throwing me to the wolves, huh Mindy.

Brienne didn't say anything, simply slipping off of the ambulance and walking away. Tara grasped at her hand, making Brienne turn around. Tara's mouth opened and closed a few times before she straightened her lips and let go of Brienne's hand, ignoring what she was going to say. Brienne gave her a confused look, but Tara waved her off, "Go ahead."

     "Okay...?" Brienne trailed off as she slowly walked away, Ethan following behind her like a lost puppy. Once they reached the car Ethan had been pushed onto, he gave her a look, showing her that they were going to do the dialogue they had talked about just in case there was someone, especially a cop, listening. So, Ethan questioned,

"You believe me, right?" Brienne didn't say anything immediately, and Ethan repeated with a more desperate voice, "Right?"

"It's not that I don't trust only you," Brienne started, avoiding his eyes, "I think it's just hard to trust anyone right now."

"I'd never hurt you, sweetheart." Ethan acted offended.

"I know." Brienne nodded, a defeated expression on her face. But then it twitched into a teasing one. She peered up at him and his oh so sweet but confused puppy dog eyes, and grinned mischievously, "Hold on...Sweetheart? Huh?"

"You—I—It uh...It slipped out!" Ethan rambled, his eyes widening as he took a step back, embarrassed he had said an affectionate term without them being official.

"No, no I like it." Brienne smiled softly at his anxious appearance, enjoying how flustered he got whenever she spoke to him. She reached forward and the tips of her fingers dragged along his palm, daring him to grasp them. She giggled, "Want me to call you a pet name too?"

"You can call me anything you want." Ethan quickly said, not even thinking.

Brienne's eyebrows raised as she challenged, "Anything?"

"I... I mean, I guess so, yeah." Ethan nodded, avoiding eye contact as he realized what he had said.

"So, I can call you something like..." She paused for a few seconds as she brewed names, "Sir Doofus?"

"I-I mean," Ethan blinked at her in disappointment but not surprise, he should have expected this, "I thought it'd be nicer..."

"So, like sweet tits?" Brienne queued with a fake innocent tone.

"How about," Ethan offered, "we just don't give pet names."

"Okay, whatever you want honey." Brienne wouldn't make eye contact as she said this, instead playing with one of his hands with both of hers.

"You—" He looked down at her in confusion, ignoring how he got butterflies in his stomach like a teenage girl from the simple word, "Why didn't you start with honey?"