masquerade ≠ ethan dolan

fifteen

"Clover!" Ethan said into the phone, and she could just tell he was grinning. "I got my stitches out today!"

"Oh, right! How'd that go, babe?" Clover hums in response, walking into her empty condo.

"It was fine. I'm gonna have some cool scars," he bragged, earning a laugh from her. He only had a few stitches-some on his forehead, and some more for a cut on his arm. "They looked at my ribs and said they're healing fine too. Faster than expected, actually."

Clover smiles smugly to herself, "told you bed-rest was a good idea."

Ethan just chuckles in response. All her babying did pay off, he almost missed it. She'd been pretty busy this week, coming to see him mostly between meetings. Since she'd taken the previous week off, she had quite a bit to make up for though. Plus, with planning for the masquerade, there was a lot to do.

Now it was 11, she was home for the night, and of course Ethan knew about what time she'd get off work, so he'd called immediately. He'd been waiting all day.

Him and Grayson had filmed something, and Clover was too busy to stop by in the afternoon anyway, so they hadn't talked much. Sure, he saw her yesterday, but he missed her voice.

"Hmph," he sighed into the phone. "Do you think you could spend the night tonight?"

"...yeah. I'll be there in 20."

Clover hung up the phone, pulling her shoes back on and grabbing a small bag of things for the morning. She rushed to Ethan's, making it in 15, and lets herself in. Ethan told her where the spare key was a few days prior.

"Clover?" Grayson snorts as she walks inside. "Keep it in his room, not the couch this time, yeah?"

"Oh my god, shut up," she laughs, bumping shoulders with him as she walks by. "Where are you going?"

Clover smirks slightly at Grayson, who would typically be getting ready for bed but is about to leave. "...you shut up."

"Have fun," she teases, walking down the hall toward Ethan. Grayson was obviously going to meet a girl. "Babe?" Clover calls in a sing-song voice.

"Clover!" He breathes, perking up as she walks into his room, trying to get out of bed.

"Mm-mm, stay in bed," she's shaking her head, motioning for him to lie back down. He listens, a small frown on his lips as he sits up against his headboard.

"But I-why do I still have to be on bed-rest?"

Clover smiles, straddling his lap and falling against his chest. "So I can sit like this."

His stubble lightly rubs against her, hands running all along her skin. "Missed you. Thought about you all day." Ethans words are muffled, but they make her smile. "Grayson had to yell at me to stay focused while we were filming."

Listening to him talk about his day, she relaxes against him, starting to fall asleep on his chest. Until she feels him chuckling.

"Mm, what?"

"I don't think you've heard anything I've said in the last five minutes. If you're tired we can go to sleep, Clover," Ethan says, forcing her to sit up slightly and look at him. "You look exhausted."

"It's been a long week," she mumbles, rubbing her eyes with a pout. "But I'm not that tired yet. Wanna spend time with you."

"Clover." Ethan's eyes roll, but he leans forward to plant a kiss on her lips. "I'm content with just cuddling you while you sleep all night. I don't want you to stay up because of me."