Leah
"What happened to you?" Mom asked me as I flipped through the channels on the TV of the living room.
"Huh?" I asked, confused, and folded my sprawled out legs underneath me when I saw mom coming to sit next to me on the sofa. She pressed a hand to my forehead and a crease formed between her eyebrows. "I'm fine, mom. Don't worry." I assured her.
"How can I not, Leah? It's just five-thirty in the morning on a Saturday and instead of being fast asleep in your bed, here you are, in the living room, on the sofa, watching some random show. That's so not you." She sighed as I kept my face blank. "What happened, Leah? I've never seen you like this before. For how long have you been here?"
"For the past forty-five minutes," I answered and she placed her hand on mine which was resting on my knee.
"What happened, Leah? Anything bothering you?"
"Mom, don't worry, please. Everything is alright." I tried to reassure her by smiling at her.
"Yeah, right, and I'm not your mother." She rolled her eyes at me and I snorted. She's just so cute.
"Alright, alright, but before I tell you, promise me you won't freak out."
"Leah, get to the point. It's too early." She yawned and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms.
"I kissed Ethan." I closed my eyes and opened a slit to peek a look at her reaction. When I dropped the news, her hands stopped at her cheeks, her eyes going wide ever so slowly and her jaw dropping, all too dramatically.
"Say something." I brought my knees to my chest and rested my head on them.
"Can I scream?"
"No," I said flatly and her face fell. "Mom it's five-thirty in the morning. You'll wake dad up."
"Who will wake dad up?" Dad entered the living room whilst rubbing his eye with his fist.
Great.
So I'm going to be talking about my kiss with Ethan at freaking five-thirty in the morning with my parents.
Yeah, my life is great. How about you?
"Leah kissed Ethan." Mom blurted out and earlier I was unsure about how these two could have fallen for each other but now I was damn sure that these two were literally made for each other. Because dad's reaction was exactly the same as mom's. Including all the minor details.
"I want to scream. Can I?" See. Totally a match made in heaven.
"Yeah, yeah go on." I sighed and rubbed my temples whereas they both let out a shrill scream.
Of course, they got excited. They've been rooting on us for a long time now and finally, when they got to hear what they've been wanting to hear, they lost it.
I shook my head and chuckled at their excitement yet there was this nervousness settled at the back of my mind. I was nervous to face Ethan. Nervous as to what he might have to say. After all, he didn't respond to the first kiss. But damn that second kiss. It was just right, just perfect. The intensity that I felt, those few moments of connectedness that I felt, it meant everything to me. I was anxious because I had no idea whether he too felt the same or not. What did it mean to him? Did it even mean anything to him at all?
"Leah?" Mom waved her hand in front of my face.
"Huh?" Guess I zoned out.
"What's bothering you, kid?" Dad's voice was concerned as he sat beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder in a comforting manner. I sighed and leaned into him as I answered them everything that was there to tell.
"-and I don't think I should have up and kissed him. Without knowing whether he feels the same or not."
"Do you like him?" Mom asked and I rubbed my face with my palms. I was feeling a different level of confidence yesterday when I first kissed Ethan. But as soon as I walked into the house, that confidence went down the drainage and was replaced by restlessness. And suffice to say, I was avoiding Ethan. Or more like I was avoiding the confrontation.
"And here I thought it was obvious to you." Dad looked genuinely happy with my answer and mom looked as if she could burst at any given moment.
"You know, Leah, your mom was the one who made the first move," Dad spoke and looked at mom with so much admiration in his eyes for her that I had to look away from them.
"I know. You've mentioned this quite a handful of times. How did you guys start dating?" I asked after I felt it was okay to look at them. I knew how those two met but I didn't know how did they start dating. As far as I know, dad was this awkward kid in school and mom was a total charmer.
"So your mom was dating this guy at school who was, excuse my language kid, an asshole-"
"You have said that to every guy that I dated back then." Mom interrupted.
"That's because they deserved the title." Dad fired back at her and then turned to look at me, "Her choice in men was really the worst. Except, of course, me." He laughed and tapped mom on her forehead.
"Yeah, yeah. Continue." Mom smiled at him.
"That guy, whom she dated before me, turned out that he was cheating on her with some guy."
"No way. Seriously?" I gasped and looked at mom, who just nodded her head at me.
"And," Dad let out a brief laugh before speaking up, "to piss him off, your mom just up and kissed me in front of the entire school."
"Mom?"
"It all happened in sophomore year, Leah." Mom laughed, a distant look on her face.
"And why was it dad and not someone else?" I asked her and she looked down at her hands in her lap.
"That's because even before she started dating that boy, she had her eyes for me."
"That was wrong, mom. You shouldn't have-"
"Dated him. I know, Leah, I know. And I regret it. That relationship was just so full of regrets, for both of us, that guy and me. He knew he was gay yet he dated me. I knew I was falling for Keith yet I dated him. We made mistakes, Leah, we all do. We all have regrets. But one thing that I don't regret that happened at that time was kissing your dad. Because I knew it was with the right boy. And when you feel that things are happening with the right person, you just have to let go of all the other worries. You may feel that the time is wrong, you might even feel that you shouldn't have done what you did. In that case, you just have to trust your fate, Leah. What happened, happened. You can't undo it now. But one thing you can do is, talk to that person." Mom pulled me towards her and wrapped her arms around me, her comforting scent embracing me.
"Talk to Ethan, Leah. You might be even surprised at what he has to say." Dad booped my nose and smiled at me as he continued. "Whatever happens, Leah, just remember that you deserve to be treated well. And if he forgets that, then, your dad will make sure he gets what he deserves."
"Don't think too much about it, Leah. Give it some rest." Mom tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear and touched my cheek. She got up from the couch and let out a yawn. "You going to sleep or staying up? It's still too early for me to stay up."
"I don't think I would be able to go back to sleep." I shrugged my shoulders and changed the channel.
"Alright, kid. See you at breakfast." With that, they left and I was left alone with my thoughts.
_______________
After a long Saturday spent by lounging around the living room and kitchen and avoiding going to my room at all costs, we were done with the dinner and dishes and it was time that I was dreading the most.
Going to my room.
To take a shower and then sleep.
No, I didn't shower because I did not go to my room.
At all.
Mom and dad had already gone to their room and I was still mindlessly watching the television. Luckily, there was something to watch the entire day. But now, all the channels were taken over by the teleshopping advertisers. So I had to switch off the TV and go to my room.
Tiptoeing up the stairs and peeking into my room through the door slit, I felt like a freaking spy. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that my balcony doors were closed, the curtains hiding my view from the opposite room.
A quick shower later, I was into my sweatshirt and shorts and stepped out of the bathroom to get to the bed. But the sudden flicker of my bedside lamp and a certain someone sitting on my bed had my heart thumping loudly in my chest.
Ethan.
"How did you get in?"
"Your balcony door."
"They were closed."
"But not locked."
"Damn." I cursed under my breath.
"Leah?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you avoiding me?" He looked mad as stood up from the bed and spoke those words.
"No."
"Why?"
"Huh?"
"Why are you avoiding me?" He asked, stepping forwards until he was standing in front of me. So close that I had to tilt my head back to look at his face.
"I'm not avoiding you, Ethan." I lied and tried to walk past him but he stopped me by putting his arms around my waist and holding me in place.
"Leah..."
"Okay, fuck. That kiss got me distracted, alright." I blurted out knowing I had no way out of this. It needed to be done.
"That bad, huh?" He asked me, hurt evident in his eyes.
"Nope. Too goo-" I didn't even get to finish the last word before his lips found their way to mine. It wasn't anything like yesterday's. Even though it was tender, there was aggression, there was a slight roughness in this one. It was blazing as if he was trying to show me how much my actions had bothered him.
"Ethan..." I breathed out once we pulled away.
"Leah, don't you think that instead of avoiding each other, we should have talked about it?"
"I know, Ethan. But, I don't know why, after getting into the house, I just freaked out. I got confused about what happened. The first kiss, you didn't respond but the second time, it was you who initiated it. That had me getting anxious about my actions. That had me confused."
"Are you confused about what you feel?"
"No." I looked down at the distance between us and then up at him, "If anything, Ethan, I'm pretty sure that I like you and want to do what we just did but we need to talk right now because that's important and I know I just confessed what I feel but you don't need to say it back. It's okay if you don't feel the same and I really understand that. Fuck, I need to stop my ramble or else you'll freak out but I can't seem to stop with my rant because I'm really nervous right now and you need to stop me before I run out of breath. Or else I won't-" He shut me up with a peck.
"Breathe." He chuckled at me and I flicked him on the forehead. "So every time you start a rant, I get to stop it like this?" He asked with a raised brow and a smirk on his lips.
"I mean, if you're fine with it, then..." I grinned at him when his smirk turned to smile.
"Leah?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't want to take your words back, right?"
"No." I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes. "Wait, I do. I don't like you. Umm, actually, uh, I think I'm falling for you, Ethan."
"You think?"
"Nope. I'm sure about it."
"I-"
"You don't have to say anything just because I confessed, Ethan. It's alright."
"Let me speak?" He chuckled and I nodded my head at him. "You have no idea how strongly I feel for you, Leah. And it hasn't been just a couple of days or months since I realised this. Do you know how difficult it is to hide your feelings when all you want to do is embrace that person and spend every moment with them for the rest of your life." We stayed quiet for a few moments, me trying to grasp onto what just did and what words we said.
"I shouldn't have avoided you." I smiled, feeling guilty about my actions.
"You shouldn't have." He agreed.
"I shouldn't have avoided the confrontation."
"You shouldn't have." He smiled.
"I shouldn't have kissed you." I laughed and he raised his brow at me.
"You should have. In fact, you did the right thing." He nuzzled his nose with mine and smiled.
"Alright, now if you don't mind, can I sleep?" I asked sheepishly.
"Of course. Good night, Leah." He let go of his arms around me and stepped away. With one last smile, he started making his way to my balcony.
"Where are you going?" I asked and sat on my bed.
"You said you want to sleep..." His eyebrows pinched together in confusion.
"Exactly. I said I want to sleep. I didn't ask you to leave."
"Huh?"
"Come on, cuddle with me."
"Your wish is my command, milady." He said all too seriously and I laughed when he bowed. "Scoot over?" I moved to one side of my bed as he lied down next to me and pulled me towards him wrapping his arms around my torso.
"Hey, Ethan?"
"Yeah?"
"What are we?"
"Humans." I gave him a flat look and he tipped my chin up. "What do you want us to be?"
"I don't know about all those labels. You take care of it." I looked him in the eye as I spoke, "All I know is that I want you."
"Be my girlfriend, Leah." It wasn't a question. It was a declaration.
"I really don't have a say in this?" I laughed and lightly pinched his arm.
"You asked me to take care of it. Besides, you don't have any option but to accept your fate, Leah. You are stuck with me." He kissed my forehead and tenderly smiled down at me.
"I don't mind." I leaned up and pecked his lips as mom and Ethan's words kept on swirling inside my head.
'You just have to trust your fate, Leah.'
'Accept your fate, Leah.'
And that's exactly what I did.
******
AND ITS DONE!
Yes, It All Started At 6 a.m. is officially completed.
Read the A/N in the next part. And let me warn you, it's gonna be considerable.
Of course, THERE'S GONNA BE AN EPILOGUE after the A/N and you can skip to that part, but uploading the epilogue will take me a couple of days.
So, how do you like the chapter? Satisfied with the ending? Do let me know.
I'm repeating this again. THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE before I update the status of this book as 'Completed'
So yeah, don't be disheartened and calm down.
Do read the A/N in the next part.