[Home for a week- Lilah passing 3 weeks]
Kyson, as usual, had been avoiding the house for a while, had once again left.
Annie felt it had something to do with her, but all she was doing was existing. So she left it be, her presence in the world was already small enough, she wasn't going to make herself smaller to make someone else feel more comfortable. Least of all Kyson.
Every night at dinner, he either glares or makes snide, back handed comments. Then, after dinner, he slips away into the night, Dylan- Annie's father never said a word about it - only because he felt it wasn't his place. Margaret had always let Kyson do as he pleased, so it always went noticed but not talked about.
Annie stalked back up to her room after dinner that night, a full week there, and she felt.. settled enough.
Ethan helped tenfold, though he father loved having her around, he worked plenty, which meant she didn't see him often. Margaret and Kyson seemed to actively avoid her while her father wasn't home.
Ethan had been a constant since she arrived, and it was comforting to know she had someone to talk to. But it also made her nervous because she could feel herself getting feelings. The last thing she wanted was to ruin what could be a beautiful friendship because she wanted to kiss him.
Annie sighed as she pulled out a new canvas, her surprise holding 3 parts, she was hoping that if she could spend most of her time the rest of the summer making these paintings, she won't have to rush to get them done on the timeline she had.
As she continued to paint, her mind started to wander to what Ethan could be doing. If he wasn't trying to get her attention, what would he be doing? 'Not that I'm more important over literally anything else,' she thought to herself.
She hadn't heard from Ethan all day, which, compared to the last few days- was odd. But Annie didn't dwell on it. She knew she shouldn't get to attached to Ethan's presence. Especially once he gets a girlfriend.
Annie shuddered at the thought, a light ache in her chest. Annie continued to paint until late at night, nearly finished with the second painting she hears, Tap!
Standing from her seat, Annie stalked over to the window, half expecting to open the window and see Ethan across they way.
Instead, nothing, Annie quirks, her eyebrow in confusion. There was Ethan's room- but no Ethan.
Tap!
Annie flinched as another pebble hit her window from below. Opening her window, she sees Ethan on the ground, looking up at her smiling.
Ethan noticed the small line of green on Annies cheek, his smile widening knowing she was painting again. "Are you busy, or do you wanna go out?" Ethan asked, his voice deep and smooth.
Annie bit her lip, "I don't know, my painting is calling to me."
"Oh come on, summer doesn't last forever," Ethan beamed, "come on! If you don't meet me by my truck in five minutes, I'm coming to get you myself!" He threatened playfully.
Annie rolled her eyes and left her windowsill, changing out of her lounge wear she changes into a baby blue long sleeved dress, the blue in the dress highlighted her eyes compared to the hard contrast of her black hair.
Throwing on a pair of flats, Annie grabs her purse and makes her way out of the house unnoticed.
Annie jumps into Ethan's truck, struggling as she does. Ethan does nothing but smile as he watches her. "Where are we going?" Annie asked as she noticed Ethan wearing clothes that weren't his usual comfy style around her.
Black ripped jeans, a dark red shirt, and a leather jacket on top. He looked like he had actually put thought behind what he was wearing, and Annie's heart did a flip at the thought.
'Why did he dress up?' Annie asked herself.
"You really don't like surprises, do you, Doll?" Replied Ethan with a cheeky smile. "The end of summer party is happening tonight, and I figured it would be a good way to bring you back around some semi-familar faces."
"Oh," said Annie, unsure if she would even want to see them, the familiar faces of the girls who hurt her, or of the boys that had nothing nice to say. But she knew it was going to happen, if not now, then in a week.
"We don't have to do it if you're not comfortable -" Ethan rambled, "I just figured I'd be by your side, and Ellie will be there..."
"We can go," Annie finally spoke their eyes making contact briefly before Ethan looked back to the road. "I don't want to stay for a long time, though.."
"I was going to stay as long as you wanted anyways," Ethan shrugged, "you're a good excuse to why I'm not drinking, and leaving early," he gives a light chuckle.
"I'll be your excuse this time, no promises for the next though," replied Annie.
Ethan let out a low, velvety chuckle, his hand lingering just a second too long on the gear shift near her. "I'll take what I can get, Doll. But don't think you're getting off that easy. If I'm using you as my excuse to be a hermit, you're stuck being my favorite person to talk to all night. Deal?"
Annie's heart did that betraying little skip again. She looked down at her lap, fiddling with the hem of her baby blue dress to hide the way her hands were slightly trembling. It was typical Ethan- saying something so effortlessly charming that it left her breathless, while he just sat there looking like a heartbreaker in a leather jacket.
"You're full of it," she murmured, though a shy, genuine smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She looked up at him through her lashes, her voice soft but playful. "I think you just like having someone around who won't judge you for wanting to leave before the music gets too loud. But fine... deal. Just don't blame me if your 'tough guy' reputation suffers because you spent the whole night talking to the girl with a terrible name for herself in this town."
Ethan's laugh was warm, filling the small space of the truck cabin as he turned onto a long, winding driveway lined with cars. "Being the guy who gets to take Annie Combs home is a much better reputation than being the guy who stays until the keg is empty."