{20}

Chapter 20: (Ethan's POV) "Mom," I called out as we walked to my parents. Her arm was linked with mine and we were going to tell them that we were leaving just in case they look for me later. "Hi, honey," she smiled. "Mom, we're gonna head out, we're really tired, just letting you know, okay?" I asked. "Sure thing, goodnight you two," she nodded, giving both of us a quick hug. "Goodnight, Mrs. Archer," Olivia smiled, waving her bye as we walked to the exit. I asked the valet to bring the car around and we stood there, waiting. "Are you actually tired?" she asked, looking up at me. "No, I just don't wanna be here any longer," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "You always do that when you're tired," she mumbled. "Look at you, being all observant," I taunted. "You're hard to miss," she grinned. "Don't act cute," I chuckled. She rolled her eyes and we stood there, waiting around. The doors opened behind us, letting out a gush of cold air from the vents. We turned around and saw Justin and Annabelle leaving too. We looked at each other, sighing in sync. "We're cursed or something, I'm telling you," she whispered. "Hmm," I nodded, "Exes constantly showing up, getting the slow valet, maybe we are." "Right, what do we do?" she asked. "Well, since they're staring…" I trailed off. I acted like I was looking around to see if they were still looking and indeed, they were. I turned to face her, "Maybe we could-" She grabbed either side of my face and pulled my lips down to hers. She took me by surprise when she did that but I kissed her back almost immediately. It was instinctive. "Sir." We pulled apart and faced the valet who was standing there with my car keys in his hand and my car behind him. "Your car," he nodded. "Uh, yes, thank you." I took the car keys from him, opened the passenger door for her, and then sat in the driver's seat. Once I shut the door, we both just sat there in silence for a minute. "Um," I cleared my throat. "Sorry, I just- they were looking and I- I didn't know what else to do," she blabbered. "It-it's fine, we both know we'll have to kiss at times," I shrugged, starting the drive back home. "Don't sweat it." "I could have given you a warning," she waved her hand dismissively. "I didn't mind," I smirked. "Of course, you didn't," she laughed, leaning her head back against the seat. "Do you want me to drop you home?" I asked. "I thought that's what we're doing," she chuckled. "You can come over," I shrugged. I glanced at her but she was already looking at me with a small smile. "Or I can come over," I shrugged again. "Huh, is that so?" she grinned. "I mean…" I trailed off. "You can come over," she nodded, "I can't take my makeup off at yours, so you come over, maybe after that, we can go to yours." "Okay," I smiled, turning the corner to our street. I parked the car in my driveway, got out, grabbed the door for her. That's a habit I never had, and then helped her out and walked her to her door. We went inside and up to her room where I plopped down on her bed and she went to her closet, grabbing her pajamas. She put them down on the bed and took her phone out from her clutch and tossed it on the bed, then she put the clutch in the closet, and then she sat down beside me with an exhausted sigh. She lifted her dress and pulled one leg over the other so she could take her heels off. She tossed the heels aside and lay down. I sat there, turning to look at her. "Why do we go to these parties with our parents?" she asked, facing me. I shrugged, "Couldn't tell you." She shook her head before standing up and walking to her vanity where she let her hair down first and then started taking her earrings off. And this whole time, I was staring. "You stare a lot," she laughed, looking at me through the mirror. "I try not to," I shrugged, walking over to her. "Well, you fail miserably," she smiled. "I am aware of that." She grinned at me while putting her earrings in a little box, setting it down on the table. "I'm gonna go change," she said. I was leaning against the wall, watching her through the mirror until she turned to me. "Can I watch?" I smirked. "You're not funny," she shook her head. She went and grabbed her clothes and then went into the bathroom. I sat down on the bed, waiting for her to come out and when she did, her makeup was all off and her hair was thrown up in a bun. She looked adorable. She raised her brows at me while grabbing her phone and keys. "You wanna go?" she asked, glancing at my window. "Do you?" I asked. "Sure," she shrugged. So we left her place and then went to mine. "Can we watch a movie?" she asked while crawling into my bed as I grabbed my pajamas from my closet. "Yeah, you pick. I'll go change," I said. I went and changed and came out to see her lying on her stomach, her legs up in the air as she rocked them back and forth and her chin in her palm. "They don't have much, let's watch Jaws," she said, her eyes trained on the screen. "Jaws?" I asked, lying down beside her. "Yeah, I'm clicking play," she said, turning around to grab a pillow. "Get me one," I said, turning around as well. She grabbed a pillow, tossed it to me, and then while she was grabbing one for herself, I caught a glimpse of her tattoo. I opened my mouth to say something but I decided not to. "No, not this one, I want the other one," I said quickly. She turned back around to give me another one and her shirt rode up just a bit, enough to show me the whole thing. "There." She smacked the pillow on my face. I laughed, pulling the pillow under my chin, my arms over it while we watched the movie. "Oliver," I said, halfway through the movie. "What?" she asked, her eyes trained to the movie. I glanced at her. She was completely lost in the movie. I sat up slowly, kneeling, and lifted the hem of her shirt. I could see it clearly. It was actually really pretty and it fit her if that makes sense. The rose was inked in red, the dagger in black. "Ethan, I swear to god, you-" "I already saw it earlier, don't freak out," I said, cutting her off. "When did you get it?" I asked, running a finger over the ink. "Earlier this year. Cher said I could forge her signature for the adult permission thing, so I did," she shrugged. "You went on your own?" I asked. "Yeah," she nodded, looking at me over her shoulder. "It looks pretty," I mumbled. "I think you're drooling," she chuckled, turning to the screen. "I'm not drooling," I rolled my eyes, lying down beside her again. "Then you definitely have a boner," she laughed. I stared at her, slightly shocked that she just said that. I laughed, she laughed. "I can't believe you just said that," I scoffed. She put her head down in her hands, laughing. "Don't bring that up ever again, please." "I'm never forgetting that you said that," I scoffed. "Ethan!" She pushed me, trying to throw me off the bed but I caught her wrist. "Don't even think about it," I smiled. I pulled her closer and she started screaming when I started poking and tickling her stomach. "Miles!" she yelled. "Olive!" I yelled mockingly. "Don't, please," she grinned, calming down while she looked up at me. We both realized then that I was on top of her, pinning her wrists down. She raised her eyebrows at me, biting down on her bottom lip to keep from smiling too big. "What?" she chuckled. It's too hard. It's too hard not to kiss her when every bone in my body is telling me to do just that. "I um, I…" Am an idiot. I… am an idiot. She realized what I was thinking and how I was feeling and her eyes darkened but it could be anything. She could be angry, she could be scared, she could feel the same way. "Ethan, don't," she whispered. "I'm trying," I huffed, rolling off of her and lying beside her, both of us staring at the ceiling. I put my arm over my eyes, letting out a slow breath. "Ethan," she said, grabbing my arm. I pulled my arm down and looked at her. She lay on her stomach so she could look at me and she seemed a little worried. "What were you just about to do?" she asked. I shook my head, "Nothing." "Then what did you understand when I said 'don't?'" she questioned. I didn't answer as she kneeled. "Ethan?" she asked, smacking my leg. "Nothing, I wasn't gonna do anything," I lied. She huffed, giving me a knowing look. "You wanna know what I was gonna do?" She stared at me, waiting for me to tell her. I sat up, staring at her, contemplating it. Do it. Don't do it. Do it. Don't do it. Fuck it. "Don't freak out," I said, kneeling in front of her, getting closer. "Why will I freak out?" she asked, looking at me cautiously. "Just because…" "Ethan, you're scaring me. Why will I-" Great job. I kissed her. I just… kissed her. . . . . . Chapter 20