Ethan
"Stop slouching around, Ethan." Lydia punched my arm and Adrian laughed at me as I let out a groan, so loud that the boy smoking weed beside us got startled and left. Yeah, anyways I didn't want damaged lungs. Thank you very much.
"Poor boy, something always interrupts you." Adrian pointed out and chuckled as he shook his head at me.
"I'm getting out of here. You both aren't helping my case." I grumbled and started walking away from the two.
"Oi, you leaving already?" Adrian yelled after me.
"Won't leave without her," I shouted back and saw Lydia's face splitting up into a wide grin.
"Just tell the girl that you're oh-so-madly in love with her." She remarked her grin still intact.
"Madly? Why be madly in love with someone when you can be passionately in love with them?" I mean why be madly in love and not deeply or sanely?
"My boy, I have taught you so well." Adrian whistled and mockingly wiped the invisible tear from under his eye.
"Yeah? Then why didn't you yourself use some of those things on your girlfriend when you were wooing her, huh?" I rolled my eyes at him as he stuck his middle finger up in the air, his girlfriend laughing beside him and I tipped a salute at the two as a form of adieu.
Dodging people on my way, I started looking for Leah so that I can spend some time with her and the party could at least become bearable for me to some extent.
Leah. With the way my heart changed its rhythm of beating when my eyes had settled on her earlier tonight, I was sure I wouldn't be able to think appropriately tonight. It wasn't just that sinful, red dress of her that had my jaw-dropping, it was the way her eyes were taking me in. They were intriguing yet the innocence in them made it difficult for me to breathe normally. All of it without her even trying.
"Holy smokes!" Yes, those were my words when I saw Leah descending down the stairs with determined steps, her fingers curled up in fists and her face, oh my, her face matched the shade of her red dress as her eyes roamed over the room, narrowing into slits as they settled on her prey.
Jessica Marvin.
Within no time at all, Leah was behind her, and to add to the drama, the speakers ceased blasting the music as well as people stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing when Leah grabbed a hold of Jessica's arm, spun her around and connected her palm with her cheek. The impact of that slap was clearly visible as all of Leah's five fingers were seen painted on Jessica's cheek.
Now I had double thoughts about waking her at six.
"You scum, what part of 'stay out of my business' did you not get? Huh?" Leah looked beyond mad as she seethed those words at Jessica, taking her arm and twisting it.
"What the fuck? Have you lost it totally, you psycho?" Jessica hissed and yanked her hand away.
"Oh trust me, dear Jessi, you haven't seen me losing my shit completely. Yet." Leah let out a cackle and glared at her prey.
Is it bad that I didn't want to stop her? I mean Jessica must have done something really bad for Leah to react this way.
Trying to get near them, I pushed my way through the crowd, dodging a few drunk people on my way.
"You going to stop her?" Avery crashed into my side as she said this and turning her head, she yelled at the drunk person that was stumbling next to her, that caused her to crash into me, "Oi, don't drink so much if you can't handle the booze."
"Of course, Avery, I need to stop her before she hurts either of them," I managed to push my way towards the front and reached out to stop Leah from doing something stupid.
But before I could pull her away from the scene, Jessica caught onto Leah's arm and clawed her nails, making Leah hiss with agony and glare at Jessica with the deathliest of glares.
Uh-oh.
I need to get her away.
"Leah, let's go," I said as I snaked my arms around her, ready to pull her away.
"No!" Her glare directed at me as she sharply turned her head to look at me. "Not until this bitch understands that it's better to stay out of people's lives. You've clawed your nails into people's life enough number of times, Jessica, and it's fucking disgusting how you use their weaknesses against them. For your benefit. You fucking need to stop manipulating people, you brainfucked duck." Leah's shoulders rose and droop rapidly as her breaths came out in pants from all the yelling and shouting.
"Or else?" Is she even in her right mind?
That's it.
I loosened my grip on Leah and she took a step towards Jessica.
"You asked for it." Before anyone could even blink, Jessica was lying on the floor, her hand clutching her nose. No one dared to either say anything or step forward to help Jessica as Leah bent down, "Beware of your boundaries, Jessi, or else the damage would be worse." She stood up straight, stepped away from Jessica, and dramatically walked through the crowd, without glancing back.
I felt bad for Jessica but I know she must have done something erroneous for Leah to lose her cool.
Glancing at Jessica one last time, I walked away from the scene and to where Leah walked away, which was towards the main door. While on her way, Nolan greeted her with a pat on her shoulder and offered her his cup of drink. But instead of declining it, as usual, she took it from his hand and in one go, chugged down its contents. And as far as I know, Nolan doesn't drown himself in cups of water at the parties.
So all in all, Leah was pretty bothered with whatever it was that happened earlier.
Leah walked out of the door and when I passed Nolan on my way, I saw him gaping at Leah, then at his cup, and then back at Leah's retreating form. Well, that's because none of us have seen Leah react this way.
I jogged my way up to her and slowed down my pace once I was beside her. She didn't lift her gaze to look at me, neither did she utter any word.
"Did you bring your car?" She asked me once we had walked down the driveway.
"No. Adrian drove me here," I replied, shrugging my shoulders and stuffing my palms into my pockets. She nodded her head, her gaze cast down and her shoulders drooped as she walked dejectedly.
"Guess we're walking then." Our block wasn't that far from here.
"Leah," I started after a few moments of silence, "Are you alright? What did she do?"
"The usual. Making people's lives miserable." She shook her head and let out a deep sigh before she fell into telling me what exactly happened, skipping a few things that weren't her place to tell.
If only Jessica wasn't a girl, I really would have shown her what repercussions she would be facing every time she messes with the people I care about.
Honestly, why was she even so bitter towards people? I mean what pleasure does she get out of doing all this? Using people's weaknesses for her motive? That's ridiculous.
"She needs to seek help," Leah uttered.
"Yeah, her nose looked pretty bad."
"I'm not talking about her nose, Ethan. Maybe Jessica has faced something really bad that caused her to become a person that she has become today. Maybe she should think of looking for a counselor. It's not healthy for her."
"Are you seriously worried about her mental health, Leah. That girl-"
"No Ethan. I am not worried about Jessica. It could have been any person and I still would've felt the same." She tilted her head to look at me and her eyes were filled with concern. Concern for someone who didn't even think twice about the consequences of her actions.
"You are something, Leah Scott." Even though I loved the way she had let down her hair, I much rather pull the rubber band off her ponytail and free them myself. But I can still ruffle them up and that's exactly what I did, receiving a glare from her yet there was a small smile on her lips.
"Yeah, I'm a girl." She laughed at her own joke. If you could even consider that statement as one.
"You're bad at it, Leah." I nudged her shoulder and she tried to push me away, still chuckling a little.
"Hey! Isn't that Dickson's house?" She pointed at the house that was dimly lit, with its nameplate lit up brightly than the light emitting from the entire house's lights.
"What do you have in your mind?" I asked skeptically.
Instead of answering my question, she looked at the house then back at me, her gaze moving southwards until it stopped at the desired destination.
"What?" I asked once she met my eyes, a malicious smile set onto her lips. "What are you thinking?"
"Do you.. umm... will you..?"
"Leah you're sweating." I touched her forehead and yes it was damp.
"Do you..umm..mind.." She looked down below my waist as red tainted her cheeks. Now I was getting worried. Not because of what might be going on in that head of hers but because of how her staring at me there was making my throat all clogged up.
"Leah," my voice came out hoarse.
"You..umm...do you h-have any...umm..urges?" She stammered and looked me down there, again.
Was she thinking about what I was thinking about what she was thinking?
"Urge to have sex? Right here? No, Leah. Even though I am a pervert sometimes, I don't want to do it. I mean, I want to do it but not right now. In front of Dickson's house. You know it would be-"
"Ethan!" She exclaimed, her face red with embarrassment. "That's not what I was asking."
"No?"
"No." She laughed.
"Then why were you looking me there?"
"God, Ethan. By urges, I meant any urge to pee? Right now." Definitely not what I was expecting.
Wait.
Urge to pee?
"Leah, you sure you are alright? You didn't hit your head right?" I asked and she just shrugged her shoulder, her entire form shaking with laughter. For a moment I forgot why she was laughing as I stared at her, her hazel eyes filled with tears of amusement. She was delightful.
"Okay forget it. That idea was cruel anyway." She said and started walking away from the house. I caught her elbow before she could walk away any further and turned her to face me. "Alright, the plan was to make you pee at his door, ring the doorbell and when he comes out he would have slipped and fell."
"Leah-"
"He could have hit his hard on the concrete. I don't want to cause harm to him." She shook her head, "But but but. I do want to trouble him."
"How? You aren't making any sense right now."
"Okay, let's go with the classic- ring his bell and run. Anyways he'd be fast asleep by now. Let's wake him up."
"You know how evil you are? Waking someone from their sleep?"
"You better not speak about this alright? You do this "evilness" every single day. So shut up." She did have a point.
"Okay, okay, go ahead."
"Make sure your legs are ready to run." She laughed and walked towards the house and up to the front door whereas I stood near the pole that was a few feet away from his place, ready to run at any given moment.
Leah lifted her hand up, placed her finger on the doorbell, and pressed it multiple times, repeatedly before yelling "DICKSON, YOU BALDHEAD, YOU SUCK AT TEACHING HISTORY." and quickly sprinted towards me when the lights inside the house turned on.
"But that wasn't in the plan." I stood still, my legs refusing to move.
"Damn it. Just run." She grabbed my hand and forcefully tugged at it which brought me out of the trance, my legs moving automatically at a faster speed. "Oi, you ostrich," she gasped as she tried to keep up with my pace, "freaking slow down. I don't have long legs like you." Seeing as we were considerably far from his house, I slowed down my pace to a jog, Leah stopping occasionally to gasp on some air.
"Just for your information, Dickson remembers voices pretty clearly."
"Nothing's gonna happen." She shrugged her shoulder and looped her arm through mine as we walked. "I don't know what Nolan was drinking, but whatever it was, it lit up the fire."
It wasn't just the alcohol. But Leah seemed to be emitting a different level of confidence tonight. I've never seen her being this bold before. And honestly, that's the way hotter than some girls that fake innocence.
"Why are you smiling, Ethan?" I didn't even realise I was smiling until she pointed out.
"I don't know. Just being with you makes me happy." And because I knew this girl so well, I stared at her, knowing her face would have turned red by now. And yes it did.
My heart swells up every time I make her blush or smile. I could never get tired of seeing that beautiful face tinted red.
"Stop with the cheese, Ethan." she laughed and continued walking, "Hey, let's get some ice cream." She pointed her finger and dragged me to the ice cream parlor and gave her order along with mine.
"We could have sat there and eaten." I took her arm and looped her arm through mine again. It felt right.
"I'm sleepy. If we would have sat there, it would have taken time. You would have to carry me then." She grinned at me widely, showing her ice cream covered teeth. Even then she managed to look beautiful.
It's always been easy-going with Leah. Everything seemed so uncomplicated whenever I'm around her. It's like cherishing every little thing about her, every single moment spent with her. So much that you'd yearn for her presence when she is not around.
We walked for a few minutes, a comfortable silence surrounding us as the warm night air swept across our sweat-covered faces. The ice cream cones vanishing from our hands as we neared our houses.
"Good night, Leah," I said to her when we stood outside her house.
"Night, Ethan." She glared at me when I ruffled her hair and I let out a chuckle. Turning around I started making my way towards my house.
"Hey, Ethan?"
"Yeah?" I turned around to find her standing right behind me, so close that if I hadn't been careful enough my shoulder might have actually hit her face.
Something shifted across her face as she bit her lip nervously but then as if something changed her mind she smiled at me, not the nervous smile, but an actual, confident one as she stood on her tiptoes and placed her lips on mine.
It was so sudden that to say I was shocked would have been an understatement.
I was feeling so many emotions all at once when she started moving her lips gently and hesitantly against mine as if she was unsure of my reaction.
Me? Oh well, I was so shocked that I just stood there, without moving. Even though her lips were warm against mine, mine were frozen and felt heavy to move as I couldn't grasp what was happening.
Leah let out a groan due to my lack of response and pulled away, hurt evident in her eyes and she let her hair form a curtain for her face to hide it from my view.
"I don't know w-what came over. Sorry, I shouldn't have done-"
I cut her speaking off as I tipped her chin up connected our lips once again, our pace slow at first, then gradually deepening it, a low groan from the back of my throat. It wasn't anything like I had imagined it would be as I held her face with my palms. The kiss was more than anything that's imaginable. I've waited for so long to kiss Leah and now that I'm kissing her, I don't think I would be able to get over how good it felt. How right it felt. Everything with Leah felt right, felt as if all these were meant to happen.
Looking at the blush on her face after we came up for air and the smile that she smiled, all of these, this wait, all the interruptions, all of them felt worth it. Leah was worth every wait. That smile of hers was worth every wait.
"Good night?" She looked up at me, her eyes filled with amusement.
"Good night, Leah." I laughed at her awkwardness and just to annoy her, and to see that glare, I ruffled her hair and yes, she did glare at me. Some habits really don't go away.
I watched her as she made her way towards her house and went in through the door, waving at me before closing the door. The evening, the kiss and the way her lips felt against mine, everything was playing on a loop in my head and I couldn't erase the smile off my face as I went upstairs towards my room.
In the hopes to look at Leah one last time before sleeping, I looked at her window but found the curtains blocking my view of her room. Weird, she has never done this before.
I changed into my sweat pants and got under the covers, my thoughts zeroing on one thought.
What now?
******
I've got a lot of things to say.
1. Eeeeppp they kissed! Finally! After so many chapters, they finally kissed.
2. Sorry for not uploading for two weeks. I've been staying at one of my relative's place and the thing is that whenever I'm writing any chapter, I need my place and space to get myself involved in the story.
3. Thank you. For being patient with the uploads. You people deserve much more than my shitty schedule. Aren't y'all just the best? <3
4. Regarding next upload, I will try my best to give it before Sunday. Only because you all were patient with this one.
So, any thoughts? How do you like Ethan's POV? Do let me know in the comments section.
Also, don't forget to click on that tiny star if you liked the chapter.
Alright, that's all I had to say in this huge-ass A/N. Have a great day/night y'all.
Until next time.