Tree Hill, 2003
Nathan was in the changing room fiddling with the lock on his locker when Lucas came up to him.
"So this whole thing with Haley really was just your way of messing with me, uh? And what about Ethan?" Lucas asked the boy.
"What's your problem now?" Nathan asked without understanding.
"I saw you making out with Emma last night." Lucas explained.
Nathan wanted to laugh, considering how quickly the two teenagers had kissed.
"Look, maybe you're a little slow but we kissed because it was the auction rules." Nathan told Lucas.
"I know what I saw." Lucas said, making Nathan want to strangle the boy.
Nathan shrugged at the boy, scoffing, Lucas closed the boy's locker roughly.
"I'm about to beat your ass, man." Nathan said, going over to the boy.
"I promised Haley I'd give you a break. That's the only thing saving you, right now." Lucas said.
Nathan pushed Lucas away from him.
"Look, I kissed Emma like you kissed Haley, that's it." Nathan explained, trying to make Lucas look understand.
[....]
In the late afternoon, Nathan stopped by the Sawyer sisters' house. Nathan noticed that the girls had not yet learned to lock the door or even answer the doorbell. The boy walked towards Emma's room, noticing the door half open and heard two voices.
"I love it when you sing to me, Pompons." Ethan said to the girl.
Emma had just put down her acoustic guitar and gone to give the boy small kisses all over his face, when they both heard a knock at the door. They both looked in the direction and saw Nathan standing in the doorway, a little embarrassed by the situation he had caught. Emma was on Ethan's lap, and the boy had his hands around the girl's waist. Emma stood up quickly.
"Sorry." Nathan said, putting his hands in the front pockets of his pants.
"It's okay. Did something happen, Nate?" Emma asked.
Ethan stood up and looked at the two of them, seeing Nathan looking a little embaressed.
"I'm going to leave you two alone for a while, I'll be back soon." Ethan said and gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips.
"No. You can stay, Ethan." Nathan said.
Emma sat down on her bed next to Ethan, and Nathan sat down in the chair at Emma's computer desk and turned to her.
"So, a weird thing happened today." Nathan began. "Lucas thinks that the two of us had an intense make-out session." Nathan explained pointing at Emma and him and laughed.
"Is he going insane?" Emma asked and Ethan chuckled.
"Yeah... I think so." Nathan explained with a smile.
"I thought you should know." Nathan said and then looked at Ethan. "Soon he'll say that your girlfriend is cheating on you with me." Nathan said.
"Ew. Gross!" Emma said, making the two boys laugh.
"You hurt my feelings, Emm's." Nathan said with a smile. "Well, I'm off. See ya." Nathan kissed the top of the girl's head and nudged Ethan.
As soon as Nathan left, Ethan looked in his girlfriend's direction.
"I can't believe Lucas saw that quick smooch and thought I was making out with Nathan." Emma said to the boy.
"Delusions." Ethan said laughing and hugging Emma.
"So, what did you want to tell me before?" Emma asked.
"My father asked Karen to marry him." Ethan said.
Emma let out an excited squeak, and before the girl could continue Ethan went on.
"She said no, Emm's." Ethan said quietly.
Emma noticed the sadness in Ethan's voice. That was the moment Ethan had perhaps been waiting for most since he was a child was for his father and Karen to get married. If there was anyone as sad as Keith Scott at being turned down, it was Ethan.
Ethan didn't complain about the family he had. He had an incredible father who supported him in everything; he had Luke, a cousin he could count on; Karen was his mother figure giving him affection and love; he had friends who wished him well; and now he had Emma, a girlfriend who understood him, who wouldn't judge his worst thoughts and adored him.
But a part of Ethan wanted Karen to be his mother, to marry Keith and adopt him. Ethan knew how much Keith loved Karen, and how long he had loved her in silence. Ethan wanted Luke to be his brother, for Keith to adopt him. But life wasn't going that way.
"I'm sorry, E." Emma said, caressing the boy's head.
"Yeah, I just don't know what Keith Scott's next move will be." Ethan said and took Emma's hand.
"I know your father will get over it and maybe he'll find a new love." Emma said, trying to look on the bright side, to bring something positive.
"Yeah, maybe." Ethan then threw himself backwards onto Emma's bed, bringing the girl to cling to him. "Right now, I just need a little of Emm's love." Ethan said, closing his eyes.
Emma chuckled and kissed her boyfriend's cheek, drawing patterns on Ethan's chest under his shirt.
[....]
The next day, Emma and Peyton were with the cheerleading squad and soon after Brooke seemed to have a less than pleasant conversation with Luke. Peyton grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her towards Luke.
"Hey." Peyton caught the boy's eye, smiling.
Emma wasn't very close to Luke. After Ethan left last night, Emma told Peyton what Nathan had told her. Peyton had laughed it off and couldn't wait to tease Luke about it.
"Hey, Lucas. Uhm... Nathan told me about the fantasy-kiss scenario you thought you saw." Emma said and continued. "Were you high?" Emma asked with Peyton beside her giggling.
Lucas ducked his head awkwardly.
"The kiss didn't mean anything. It was just a peck on the lips." Emma explained and then continued. "I would never do something like that to hurt Ethan or Haley. I hope you know that." Emma said to the boy and then patted him on the shoulder, leaving him with Peyton.
"I guess I overreacted." Luke said to Peyton, who laughed.
[....]
Haley had gone to the Sawyer sisters' house. Peyton was drawing, Haley was doing her nails and Emma had just come into her sister's room huffing.
"Hey, Emm's." Peyton said, watching her sister with a frown. "What twisted your panties?"
"Music..." Emma complained, sitting down next to Haley on Peyton's bed.
Emma looked at the nail polish on Haley's fingers, Peyton saw it too.
"Cute." Emma said pointing to Haley's fingernail.
"I like that. What color is it?" Peyton asked.
"Shag." Haley said, the girls were silent and Haley's voice echoed through the room. "Did Nathan ever cheated on you?"
"Where'd that come from?" Peyton asked wide-eyed, and Emma straightened up on Peyton's bed.
"I just wonder if... maybe he's gonna start looking somewhere else for what he's not getting from me."
Oh Oh, Emma wished Haley had never brought the subject up. Emma had never had sex, she told Ethan that, she said she wanted to feel ready. It wasn't anything like waiting until marriage, or the right person. Maybe it was something to do with the right person, but Emma is sure that Ethan is that person. Emma just doesn't feel ready, many women feel pain the first time, and it's not just this that disturbs the girl's thoughts. What also disturbs her are the various 'what ifs'.
What if she doesn't know how to make Ethan feel pleasure? What if he doesn't? What if Ethan doesn't feel desire for her body? What if she doesn't know what to do and embarrassed herself? What if Ethan doesn't like her and doesn't care about her anymore? What if...
Emma snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Haley say.
"I can't breathe when I'm around him and when I'm not around him, I want to be. I'm just, totally in love with him."
OH MY GOD! Emma has just realized that she doesn't just adore Ethan, that he's not just a crush. She's loving Ethan. Emma's heart started beating faster, and Emma felt like she was going to combust. Emma heard Peyton say something to Haley but couldn't pay attention.
Peyton was looking in the direction of the two girls when she noticed that her sister seemed to be in another dimension.
"Emm's?" Peyton called out.
Haley looked to her side and saw that Emma didn't seem to be breathing properly, Haley moved the girl and snapped her fingers in front of her.
"Emma?" Haley called out.
"Oh God..." Emma muttered.
Peyton and Haley looked at each other, Peyton sat on the bed and held her sister's hand. Peyton wondered if the girl was feeling well, when Haley chuckled.
"Have you just realized that you love Ethan, Emma?" Haley said.
Emma looked in the girl's direction.
"Emm's, I thought that was obvious." Peyton said.
Emma got out of bed and pointed in her sister's direction.
"No, it's not. I thought I just really liked him, and that..." Emma stopped, seeing the two girls smiling in her direction.
"I love Ethan." Emma muttered and threw herself on top of the two girls, putting her hand to her face. "What if he doesn't love me?" Emma asked, causing the two girls to laugh at her. "You're not supposed to laugh at me! You guys are being mean."
"Emma, I'm sure Ethan loves you too. The way he looks at you and how all the time he feels the need to hold your hand, to be close to you or to touch you." said Haley.
"Emm's, I think it's impossible not to love you." Peyton said caressing her sister's face, taking Emma's hands away from her own.
"Your opinion doesn't count, sis. We're womb mates." Emma said, causing the girls to smile.
[....]
In the schoolyard, Emma saw Peyton and Brooke talking and as soon as she got close Brooke was already walking away. Emma ran after Brooke.
"Brooke Davis." Emma called out, causing Brooke to slow down.
"Emm's, hey."
Emma hugged her friend from the side and walked with the girl towards her car. As soon as the two arrived in front of Brooke's car, Brooke looked at Emma.
"Are you busy?" Brooke asked her friend.
"For you? Never." Emma nudged Brooke and they got into the car.
When the two girls arrived at Brooke's house, they went straight to the girl's bedroom. Brooke pulled Emma onto her bed and hugged her.
"Okay, are you going to tell me what's going on, B. Davis?" Emma asked, noticing that her friend looked stressed and sad.
"I did something wrong, Emm's." Brooke said tearfully.
"Just... talk to me, Brooke. I'm here." Emma said.
Brooke explained to Emma that her period had been delayed, that she had told Lucas and that he had gone with her to buy some pharmacy tests and that they were positive. Brooke said this and Emma was already terrified for her friend, but Brooke continued. Brooke had asked Emma to let her tell her everything without interrupting. Brooke also told Emma that Lucas had taken her to a clinic for a blood test, just in case the pharmacy test was a false positive. Until then, Emma didn't think Brooke had done anything wrong. But then Brooke explained that just before she got the call from the clinic with the result, Lucas said that he wasn't sure if he could be the father of Brooke's baby. A few minutes later, Brooke received a call from the clinic. The test was negative, the pharmacy test was actually a false positive, but Brooke lied to Lucas saying that she was pregnant and that it was his. Brooke said that she had been ignoring Lucas.
Brooke looked at Emma, who was silent.
"Say something, Emm's." Brooke said quietly.
"Holy shit, Brooke!" Emma ended up saying a little loudly.
Brooke ended up shying away a little, but Emma pulled her into a hug and smoothed her hair.
"Brooke, let's go in parts." Emma said.
"Who the hell does he think he is to say that he's probably not even the father? He's the one who cheated on you, not the other way around. Asshole." Emma grumbled, Brooke looked at her friend when she felt a but coming.
"But?" Brooke asked, knowing what Emma would say.
"Brooke, it was wrong to lie to him about this. You need to tell him the truth." Emma said, looking into Brooke's eyes.
"Emm's, he..." Emma interrupted Brooke.
"He was an asshole to you, I know. But he doesn't know it's a lie, Brooke. He must be freaking out about it." Emma said. "And Brooke, his mother got pregnant just before she finished high school, and Dan left her. It must be crazy for him." Emma explained.
"I know, Emm's. I just don't know how to speak the truth right now." Brooke said.
"I know you'll find a way, Brooke. And I'm here for you." Emma said.
Brooke hugged her friend tighter, sighing.
"Thanks, Emm's." Brooke murmured.
"It's okay. But hey, when you're really pregnant can I be godmother?" Emma asked, making Brooke smile.
"You don't even have to ask, Emm's. It's obvious that you're going to be godmother to one of my children." Brooke said.
"Oh, are you going to have more than one?" Brooke laughed at the question.
Emma kept distracting Brooke from the problems that surrounded her. Brooke was happy that Emma was always there to protect and help her.
[....]
Ethan was at Karen's café with Lucas and Haley, when Haley brought them a snack. Ethan started attacking his burger.
"So, uh... I gotta ask you two kind of personal questions." Haley said and Ethan with his mouth full just nodded.
"Just out of curiosity. How many times per minute do guys think about sex?" Haley asked.
Ethan choked on the new piece of hamburger the boy had just bitten into. Haley's eyes widened as Lucas slapped the boy on the back to trying to help him. Ethan took a sip of coke.
"What the hell, Hales?" Ethan muttered.
"Per minute?" Lucas asked.
"Ellemagazine said that guys think about sex like every 30 seconds." Haley explained.
"Uh, Hales. I don't think I think that much about it." Ethan said, trying to think how many times a day he thought about sex. "Did they interview porn actors?" Ethan asked.
Luke, however, understood that Haley's question had to do with her thinking about having sex with Nathan.
"You're thinking about having sex with him?" Lucas asked Haley.
"Look, it just... It keeps coming up and I..." Haley continued.
Ethan and Lucas looked at her.
"Sorry, wrong words." Haley said laughing.
"It's not my place to tell you how to live your life, Hales." Lucas said as Ethan finished his burger. "But, for what it's worth. I wish I would have waited." Lucas said.
Lucas spoke a little more and Haley looked towards Ethan, who was wiping his mouth.
"Haley, is he pressuring you?" Haley denied it. "Do you feel ready?" Ethan asked.
"I don't think so." Haley said.
"Then don't force yourself to do something. Have you talked to Nathan about this?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, he doesn't want to pressure me to do anything I don't want to do. He's being really nice about it." Haley said.
"No, Haley. He's doing the bare minimum, don't ever think that because a guy doesn't force or pressure you into sex, he's nice or kind. Fuck that. He's doing the bare minimum, which is treating you with decency." Ethan said.
Lucas and Haley looked at the boy, not expecting to hear anything of the sort.
"You....?" Haley asked, and Lucas turned his face to look at his cousin.
"Am I a virgin, Hales?" Ethan asked and Haley nodded.
Ethan started to turn a little red, not expecting the conversation to turn on him.
"Yes." Ethan said.
Lucas looked at his cousin.
"I thought..." Lucas began to speak.
"You think a lot of things, Luke." Ethan said, patting his cousin on the shoulder.
Haley kept looking at the boy, wondering why he had never had sex.
"Hales, I don't feel like doing it with just anyone." Ethan said, and the other two teenagers looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Okay, look. Before Emma, I was attracted to other people and when I got to know them better, I lost interest. I didn't feel sexual desire, or anything like that." Ethan said.
"And now?" Lucas asked.
Ethan ran a hand through his messy hair and scratched the tip of his nose.
"Emma doesn't feel ready, so I'll wait and make her as comfortable as possible about it." Ethan said.
Haley smiled at the boy.
"So with Emma you feel like it?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, it's like I need to feel connected to the person to feel that kind of desire. You know?" Ethan said.
Haley could understand, it wasn't as if she had never found other boys handsome and felt attracted. But with her connection to Nathan, it made her wonder if she was really ready or not.
"So, did you really think my girlfriend was hooking up with Nathan?" Ethan asked, laughing as he looked at Luke, Haley smiled at Luke who was grumbling and ducking his head.
"Sorry." Lucas said.
[....]
When Ethan got home, Keith asked him to call Lucas and ask him to come over later as he had something to tell the boys.
As soon as Luke arrived, Keith asked the boys to sit on the sofa.
Keith asked what was going on in the boys' lives, Ethan told him that he had asked Emma to be his girlfriend a few days ago and they were happy about it. Luke said that his shoulder rehabilitation was going well.
Lucas questioned why Keith had stayed by his mother when she got pregnant, Keith explained that it was the right thing to do and he loved Karen. Lucas also apologized for the way he acted when Karen was in Italy.
As Lucas was leaving, Keith said that he was proud of the boy and that he would always be there for him if he needed him, even if he wasn't around. As soon as Lucas left, Ethan looked at his.
"You didn't say what you wanted." Ethan said and Keith sat down on the sofa, asking his son to sit next to him.
"Ethan, I...." Keith began. "I'm looking for jobs." Keith said.
"Okay, that's good, right?" Ethan asked.
"I'm looking for jobs not just in Tree Hill, Ethan." Keith explained.
Ethan wilted next to his father, realizing the possibility of moving.
"I'm sorry. If you want to stay in case we need to move, I can check with Karen or even Whitey." Keith said to his son, noticing his sad countenance.
"Nah. I wouldn't leave you alone, Dad." Ethan said, hugging his father.
Keith hugged his son, ruffling the boy's hair.
"You're a good kid, Ethan," Keith murmured to his son.
[....]
Ethan asked Emma to meet him at their meeting point on the bridge. Ethan was smoking a cigarette when he smelled Emma's perfume, and the girl's arms went around his waist to hug him.
"Hey, Pompons." Ethan said quietly.
"Hey, E." Emma kissed the boy's cheek. "What did you want to tell me?" Emma asked.
When Ethan called the girl to ask her to meet him at their meeting place, saying that he needed to tell her something, Emma thought of several things. That he might say he was in love with her, that he might break up, that he might be sick of her or that he might even be in love with someone else.
"My dad, uh... He's looking for jobs." Ethan said.
"Isn't that good?" Emma questioned.
"Even outside Tree Hill, Emm's. He doesn't feel like this is his home anymore." Ethan explained.
"So...?" Emma didn't know what to think.
"There's a chance I'll end up moving, Emm's." Ethan said.
Emma wilted in front of Ethan, the girl was fighting the urge to cry.
"I don't want to break up, Emm's. It's going to suck being away from you, but in case I move... Would you be willing to try our relationship from distance?" Ethan asked, hoping that the girl would accept.
"Obvious, E." Emma said.
Ethan pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her as if every kiss could be the last for a while.
"I don't want to be away from you." Emma said.
"I know, Pompons. I don't want to either."