30. Ethan's confession

Chapter 30: Ethan's confession

Kelsey's POV

*****

"Kelsey, you're back!" Ellie squealed as soon as I opened the door, wasting no time before jumping on me and squeezing me tightly, as if she didn't want to let me go. "I thought we lost you forever," she cried.

Upon hearing her voice, Noah ran down the stairs faster than he would every time I told them that there was pizza ready, and I couldn't help but smile at that. My smile quickly faded, however, as soon as I saw his stern look.

"You and Ethan talk. Right now," he said, his eyes fixated on mine.

I hated seeing Noah that way, and it made me feel horrible. I hoped that Noah wouldn't be mad at me forever, but I also knew that when push comes to shove, he would always choose his brother, and I couldn't even be upset about that.

"That's what I came here for," I softly said as I got Ellie off me.

"Please make him happy again. He has been crying, and seems like you have been too. Please don't cry," she said, wiping off a tear that escaped from my eye.

"Thank you sweetie," I replied, feeling my chest tighten at her words.

The thought of Ethan crying because of me broke me, and I had to try really hard not to cry as I made my way upstairs to Ethan's room. Saying that my heart felt as if it was going to explode would have been an understatement.

I took a deep breath as I stopped in front of his door, knocking on it softly, moments before he opened it for me. His eyes shot up to meet mine, widening as soon as he saw me standing in his doorway.

"Can we talk?" I asked as soon as I was able to find my voice.

He looked so broken, with bags under his eyes. It hurt even more knowing that I caused that. It was just one kiss, it wasn't supposed to effect him so much.

"Come in," he said, his voice barely a whisper. " And if you tell me that you did it because he threatened you that he would kill me or something like in all those chick flicks I'm laughing in your face."

I took a deep breath, ready to tell him all that happened.

"Ethan, I didn't do it for you. I did it for me."

And for Noah.

"Wow that's so much better. You actually have the courage to say it in my face that you kissed Zack for you?" He asked, anger evident in his voice.

"It's not what you think," I said, realising that my choice of words was not the best. It was much more complicated than he could have possibly thought.

"Then please, do explain," he said, finally sitting down.

*Flashback*

"How did you find out?" I asked Zack as we entered the guest room, biting the fingernail on my thumb as I could feel my nerves rising.

"Well, Jenna told me that you haven't been together for a month. You've known each other for a month and he said some harsh things to you a few weeks ago, making you two fight," he smirked, making me hate him more than I had ever hated him before.

I wished that I could have told him that she was lying, and to somehow slap that smirk right off his face, but I knew that he didn't miss the look of shock I got as soon as the words left his mouth.

"It doesn't matter that you know, Zack" I said. "His girlfriend or not, I care about Ethan, that much doesn't change."

"Oh baby, I'll have you know that Ethan likes you like crazy but that won't be for long," he said, taking a step forward as I took one back.

I was trying so hard to not let him intimidate me, but it was nearly impossible. I could never understand how he could be so ruthless. His words scared me, I didn't know what he meant by the fact that Ethan wouldn't like me for long, and I certainly didn't like what he was implying. He was planning something, and no matter how much I tried to give myself courage, I knew that he was going to succeed.

"Why do you say that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"I want you to kiss me," he said.

My mouth opened agape at what he was asking of me. If I wasn't so terrified of him I would have actually laughed in his face. There was no way I was going to be kissing him, no matter how attractive he thought he was.

"And why would I do that?" I asked.

"You will do it unless you want me to tell dear Katie Walker that her children's babysitter slept with her little boy," he smirked.

An involuntary gasp escaped my mouth as his words finally registered in my head. Only a mentally ill person would have been able to come up with something like that. Accusing his own younger cousin of sleeping with his babysitter was sick, and I couldn't just stand there and let him think he could get away with it.

"You want to tell her that I slept with Noah? How sick are you?" I spat out. "She wouldn't believe you anyways".

I couldn't understand what I had ever done to him to make him want to ruin me. I tried to be nice to him ever since he stepped foot in that house, and I even allowed him to sleep in my allocated room.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong. She loves me," he proudly said.

"Loves you?! You killed Ethan's dog!" I spat out.

"Did I? You see, according to Katie, Ethan was just irresponsible and blamed me for it to get me in more trouble," he smirked.

I shook my head at his words, unable to believe what he was saying. At first I thought that Ethan was exaggerating when he said that he felt like his parents didn't care about him, but if Zack was saying was actually the truth, I didn't blame him one bit.

"He stole my mother. She loves him more then she loves me, always has," Zack spat, his eyes turning menacing.

I felt slightly bad for him, but no matter how horrible that was, it still didn't justify what he did to Ethan. All I knew was that Zack needed to be put in a mental hospital. No sane person would say or do the things he did.

"Zack, I'm sorry I really am but is all this really necessary? You hurt him enough. You stole his crush, you took his best friend, wasn't all that enough?" I asked, trying to reason with him.

"Oh no honey, I haven't done any of that. Yet," he smirked.

"You're not just hurting Ethan. You're hurting Noah and me and everyone else in this household," I said in frustration, fearing where the conversation was heading.

"And you think I care? Hurting the ones he loves hurts him too."

How could no one ever have realized how sick he was? How could Kathy possibly blame Ethan for what happened to Bradley?

"Look baby doll. Unless you want my aunt to think that you slept with sweet little Noah and forbid you from talking to anyone in this household ever again you're gonna have to kiss me. Come on it's just one kiss. Will you do it, or not?" he said, puckering his lips.

I took a big gulp, quickly trying to weigh everything inside my head and to try to figure out what to do. It was just one kiss. Compared to what he would do, a kiss was nothing. I had to do it. For both Noah and I.

"Yes Zack, I'll kiss you," I finally said.

*End of flashback*

"I'm gonna kill that son of a b-"

"No need to insult your aunt and uncle," I said, trying to lightly lighten the mood.

"Kelsey I'm so so sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that. I just went all crazy. I can't believe he threatened to do that," he said as he hugged me, snuggling his head in the crook of my neck.

I smiled as I breathed him in, glad that he decided to believe me. I had been so scared of losing him that I couldn't help but cry at the fact that he actually forgave me.

"It's okay Eth. I would have done the same. Just please don't tell Noah about this. I don't want him to know," I said as I snuggled closer to him.

I was not even planning on telling Ethan the story, and the only reason I did so was because I knew it was the only way to get him to understand me. I didn't even want to imagine the affect that all of it would have had on Noah, and I didn't want to find out either.

"Don't worry baby girl," he said pulling away. "And I promise you that if Zack ever does what he threatened, I'll be here to protect you. I would never let him do that to you my little princess," he said.

I smiled, the zoo in my stomach becoming wilder with every passing second. I was scared of how important Ethan was becoming to me, and I knew that as more time passed, the less I could try and ignore it. .

"Let's go tell the guys that everything's fine," he said as he lead me downstairs, holding my hand in his.

*****

"I'm so glad she's not leaving!" Lara squealed, hugging me after we told them that we had settled everything, and that Zack was finally out of our hair.

"I'm glad I'm not leaving too," I replied.

"Okay, everyone to bed!" Ethan said with a chuckle as the kids all engulfed us in a group hug, their cheers bringing an immense joy to me.

"But Ethy, it's only eight o'clock," Ellie whined as she mustered up her best pout, probably in hopes that Ethan would give in. I was glad that everything was finally back to normal.

"Go to sleep if you want to wake up early to go to the aquarium tomorrow," Ethan said, making her squeal.

I snapped my head to look at him, his words surprising me in a good way. Ellie had been asking us to take her to the aquarium for ages, but she wouldn't go without Ethan. Ethan, on the other hand, didn't want to go to a place where he had been nearly twenty times before. I was really happy to see him trying so hard to make her happy.

"Oh my gosh, thank you!" She said, hugging him before she dragged Lara upstairs.

As Ellie and Lara were running upstairs, I turned to look at Meg, giving her the biggest hug I could have possibly given her, truly grateful for everything she had done.

"Thank you for everything Megs," I said after she told me that she was heading home.

"No problem bestie," she said as she hugged me before heading out.

I looked at Noah, who I could sense was already looking at me. I smiled as soon as he hugged me, glad that he wasn't still angry at me. "I'm so glad you didn't betray us," he said.

I frowned as I looked down at him, unable to understand how anyone could ever try to hurt Noah in any way. He was a bundle of joy and I loved him so much. He was always so sweet and kind to those around him, and maybe if Zack wasn't so crazy, they could have all been friends.

"Alright, I'm going to sleep now," he said, heading upstairs, leaving Ethan and I alone.

"Well, Zack took all his stuff from the guest room so you can go sleep in there again," he said with a small smile. "That is unless you want to sleep with me again," he smirked.

"Actually, I'd really like that," I admitted.

His smirk vanished, and his eyes lit up as soon as I said those words, probably wondering if I was being serious or if I was just messing with him. I smiled at him, wanting to show him that I was being serious. After all that had happened, I needed to be near him.

"Seriously?" He asked in disbelief

"If you don't mind," I replied.

"No, I'd love to," he smiled.

I smiled back, glad that everything turned out okay. It was a long day, I was exhausted, but I knew that I could finally sleep since everything was back to the way it should have always been.

"Okay then, but only if you answer some of my questions," I said.

"No problem," he answered before we went upstairs and Ethan jumped on the bed, screaming the word 'sleepover' in the most girly voice he could have possibly made, making me chuckle. I loved it when he got all childish and when he felt comfortable enough to joke. He was always serious with most people, and I was glad that he could be different with me.

"So what questions did you want to ask me?" He asked as he put his arm around my waist and snuggled his head in the crook of my neck, bringing the zoo back, and a lot more elephants.

"Erm, what did Zack mean when he said first crush?" I asked, whispering the last part.

Ethan's eyes widened momentarily before he composed himself, looking at me and sighing. I could tell that it was going to be very embarrassing for him, but if it concerned me then I wanted to know.

"Alright then, confession time," he said, looking straight at me. "I used to have a crush on you from the third grade till the sixth, you were just so adorable in those little pigtails of yours it just caught my eye."

I was shocked. I never even knew he noticed me, let along had a crush.

"I thought you didn't even know I existed," I admitted.

"Oh, but I did. You think I wouldn't notice my neighbour's adorable friend?" He asked chuckling.

"Aww ain't you sweet?" I chuckled nervously, not knowing how to reply to a confession like that.

"What about you huh? Have you ever had a crush on the definition of perfection?" He smirked.

"Oh yeah, I'm crazy about Tom Holland," I teased.

"Gee thanks!" He replied as he rolled his eyes at me before looking at me seriously, scaring me slightly. "So you don't find this confession of mine weird?" He asked, looking straight at me.

I shook my head with a smile, not wanting him to have that idea in his head. I was glad that he told me.

"Having you as a best friend is awesome," he said kissing my nose, sending my heart on a marathon.

I couldn't understand how a single person could affect me so much, yet there he was, sending me in a frenzy.

"Woah, best friend? When did that happen?" I asked.

"Well, you won't let me have your heart, for now, so I've just decided that we're best friends from now on, no one will separate us," he winked.

"I wouldn't hate that," I admitted, causing him to smile.

"It's settled then," he said.

I smiled before I could feel myself getting tired because of all of that day's crying. I could feel my eyes getting heavier to keep open, and I slowly drifted off to sleep in Ethan's arms.

"I'll never leave you princess," I heard Ethan say before I completely drifted off to sleep.

A/N: There you go guys, an extra long chapter just for my most dedicated readers. What do you think huh? Wasn't that last part sweeeettttt? Love is in the air fam 💞💞

I hope you enjoyed the update, also my new books are probably going to come out this weekend. I'm so excited to show you guys what I've been working on.

Today there's no need for furniture throwing, it was a long chapter with no cliff hangers so #StopFurnitureAbuse2k17. Although feel free to throw a rock at Zack or Jenna.

I'm sure a lot of you were surprised to know that Aaron 'ships' Ethan and Kelsey. I told you he wasn't so bad but you just wouldn't listen!

Well enough with the authors note. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys on Monday *sigh* it's so close yet so far! But at least it gives you something to look forward to on Monday so you're welcome 😉

I love you guys so much

Stay perfect,

~M