[8 Days Home]
Annie slept the best she had in weeks, maybe it was because of her her mood, or maybe it was because of the kindness and care Ethan showed her the night prior. She wasn't sure.
Annie stood from her bed and let out a little stretch. She then stalked over to the box full of extra paintings she kept but didn't have space to hang. Pulling out the last portrait she had painted before her mother passed.
Haunting blue eyes and black hair stared back at her, beside the woman was a girl with the same matching blue eyes and black hair. Their smiles broad and true, their eyes holding genuine joy untouched by the world's darkness.
"Oh mom, you would love to know what kind of man he had become," Annie smiled at the painting of her mother and her. Though Lilah- Annie's biological mother, didn't know the Hawthorne's personally, for a few years they saw eachother in passing. Lilah always complimented how sweet and gentlemanly Ethan was from a young age, always praising his parents- parenting.
Annie pulled a nail from a drawer, placing it on the wall before hanging up the portrait of her mother and her on the wall. A small smile graced Annie's lips, the dull ache of her mother's passing pressing in her chest.
Annie's eyes became slightly watery as she looked at the painting, but they weren't tears of sadness, but those of acceptance. Annie had finally accepted that her mother was no longer with her. Even though Annie accepted it she knew she was still grieving. Today just happened to be labeled as a "Good day."
With a sigh Annie pulled out her other two paintings that she had done recently, looking at them thoroughly before setting them back in their hiding place. The first she was happy with, it was truly finished, but the second she wasn't entirely happy with.
"I need to finish the second one and start the third," she murmured to herself, "only got a week and a half left," she bit her lip.
Annie's phone dinged from her bedside table.
Unknown-
"Checking on my favourite pebble target, I'm currently fending off my mothers questions about you, so you basically owe me a hello. Hope your morning is more peaceful than mine was. Any chance you've got room in your schedule for a coffee delivery, or do I need to bribe the artist? (It's Ethan, by the way.)"
Annie types away at her phone before hitting send.
The Pebble Target 🎯📖
"Pebble target? I think my window glass would disagree! 🪟 I'm actually doing okay today... better than I have in a while. Tell your mother I said hello! And I suppose I can't have you suffering through those questions alone. You don't need a bribe, but a coffee would be a lifesaver. I'm by the window now... if you've got coffee in your hand, I might just let you in, I'm officially 'available' for a delivery. ☕️ See you in five? (Hi, Ethan.)"
Minutes passed until Annie heard the familiar tap on her window, turning. She pulled it open and saw Ethan on the ladder with two coffee cups in hand.
"How did you climb up the ladder with two cups in your hand? Are you trying to scald yourself?" Annie asked as she quickly took the cups out of his hands to let him into her room, "plus you could've been a normal person and take the front door."
Ethan vaulted over the sill with a practiced ease that suggested he wasn't nearly as worried about the height as she was. He dusted off his jeans, a crooked, boyish grin tugging at his lips.
"And miss out on the dramatic entrance? Not a chance. Besides, the front door is for people who haven't been labeled a 'pebble target.' Risking third-degree burns and a broken neck just to see you smile? I'd say that's a fair trade. You should see what I'd do for a bagel. And let's be honest: if I'd used the front door, I wouldn't have caught that look on your face just now. The 'available for delivery' look suits you much better than the 'leave me alone' one."
Annie felt the heat rush to her cheeks, a stark contrast to the cool morning air coming through the open window. She quickly looked down at the coffee cups in her hands, focusing intensely on the steam rising from the lids to avoid his gaze.
"You're impossible," she murmured, though the small, helpless smile on her lips betrayed her. "Risking a broken neck for a bagel... or a smile. You shouldn't say things like that, Ethan. It's bad for my heart rate."
She took a small, cautious sip of her coffee, using the cup as a shield. "And for the record, I don't have a 'leave me alone' look. I have a 'peacefully brooding' look. There's a difference."
She glanced up at him through her lashes, her blue eyes softening as they landed on him. The grief was still there- a quiet weight in the back of her mind, but standing here with him, it felt manageable. "But... thank you. For the coffee. And for not actually falling off the ladder."
"Anytime Doll," Ethan gave her a toothy grin as he turned his gaze around her room again. This time the room was filled with daylight- and not red. Ethan let out a little shiver at the thought.
His eyes met the ones of Lilah- Annie's mother, hanging on the wall. "Wow," Ethan sighed, "you look just like her."
A small genuine smile spread on Annie face, a light blush spreading on her cheeks. The compliment not taken lightly as her mother had been a very beautiful woman. "Thank you," she murmured back shyly.
"Don't get all shy on me now Doll," Ethan chuckled, "so those surprise paintings, can I see now? You know cause I'm here," he gives her a smile before taking a sip of his coffee, leaning against the wall like he owned the room he stood in.