Annie stilled as Ethan continued. "I was put walking the roads in a mood after your brother and I got into a fight. I heard a loud splash and ran towards the bridge. When I looked down I saw you, so I grabbed you out of the water, you were unresponsive so I gave you mouth to mouth. When I knew you were alive I carried you as fast as I could home."
Ethan breathed as he told the story, with the look on his face as he was watching it second by second behind his eyes. "I swear I didn't look at you or anything weird, but I found your pajamas and changed you into them because you were soaked. And then-" Ethan let out a shaky breath as he looked away from Annie, "I saw the c*ts on your wrists bl33ding, so I bandaged you up. I had a good idea at what I had just saved you from so I-I, I had to tell your father."
Annie sat still for a moment, processing the new information. Then she recalled some of it. The strong arms pulling her out of the cold water, the lips that touched hers, the pants from him, 'you're going to be okay, God you're going to be okay.'
As Ethan lifted his head to gauge Annie's reaction she flung herself into his arms in a hug. "Thank you Ethan," Annie heaved a heavy sigh in his arms, noticing his pure scent of cedarwood and smoke from a bonfire. "I wasn't ready to go and you saved me, so thank you."
"You weren't-?" Ethan asked confused as he held Annie tight in his arms, enjoying the feel of her body against his.
"I wasn't trying to k*ll myself," Annie shook her head as she pulled herself away from his embrace, "someone did that to me, and though it wasn't physically the worse thing done, it was admittedly the most deadly," Annie nodded.
"Wha-?" Ethan looked at Annie dumbfounded, "that wasn't the first time it was physical?"
Annie chuckled sadly to herself shaking her head, "don't tell me you didn't notice everyone always picking on me, Ethan? It was definitely not a secret."
"No, no, I did notice that. The name calling and snide remarks, but physical? Let alone attempted murder? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Ethan stammered on bewildered.
Annie smiled sadly to Ethan, "with the rumors back then saying I was depressed, would you have believed me?"
Ethan sat still for a moment, stuck in his thoughts. Would he had believed her? Even back then he didn't pay much attention to rumors, but between the scene he had witnessed and the rumors. He knew she was right. In defeat he shook his head.
"Exactly, and other then the whole bridge situation, the only bad thing they really ever did was c*t me, I'm guessing to make me look depressed," Annie shrugged looking down at her arms, the c*ts healed where sc@rs remain.
"So you never did that to yourself?"
"No, I didn't," Annie let out a short breath, taking her gaze up to the night sky, the stars and moon shining brightly, a small smile graced Annie's lips. "I've forgiven everyone, but that doesn't mean I'm going to trust and hang on every word they say. I'm not mad at what they did to me anymore, I'm content because it was a stepping stone to who I am today. What happened to me won't be my entire story. There's more to me then my tragedies."
"That is incredibly thoughtful and mature for a 17 year old," Ethan chuckled, lightening the mood.
Annie shook her head, a smile on her lips, "Hey I'm 18 in a month!" Annie snapped back.
"Oh I'm sorry, look at this mature adult woman with wise insight, definitely not a child," Ethan poked back playfully.
"I am not a child, I am all woman over here!" Annie gawked at him, Ethan's smile contagious.
Ethan held up his hands in surrender, "Point taken. I think I need to start taking you a lot more seriously from now on."
Annie crossed her arms playfully looking away with a pout that lasted a whole of two seconds, "thank you."
Ethan burst out laughing, Annie following soon after, Annie checked her phone as sighed, "it's 3:30, we best be going if we don't want our families to know we were gone."
Ethan nodded as he helped Annie up off the ground, taking the blanket and chucking the garbage into the public bin, they made their way to his truck.
Ethan started the truck and they started their drive back home, "thank you for tonight, I appreciate it," Annie said softly, knowing that Ethan wasn't to far away from her to talk in a loud voice.
"Don't thank me, it was just as nice for me as it was for you, if you wanted to do it every night I wouldn't mind a bit," he smiled sweetly as he kept his eyes on the road.
"Hmm, maybe not every night," Annie hummed, "you'll need to sleep eventually, speaking of, did you sleep at all?" Annie asked.
Ethan bit his lip, "no I didn't," he shrugged.
"Ethan Hawthorne!" Annie hissed, "you need to sleep!"
"Speak for yourself BabyDoll, you hadn't slept either!" Ethan retorted, the nickname earning him a slap to the arm. Ethan smirked in return.
"I slept for four hours thank you very much!" Annie said, "and enough of that nickname, I don't need people getting the wrong idea about us!" Annie hissed.
"I'll catch a nap before the dinner, and who is people? Got a guy you like? Don't want him to feel threatened?" Ethan asked, though Annie didn't see it, Ethan swirled with jealousy. He had always respected Annie, always found her beautiful.
But the minute she stepped out of the taxi, he was a goner. She was absolutely stunning, and the more he got to know her over these short two days, the more he realized that Annie wasn't like the girls their age.
Annie was mature, intelligent, and most of all, kind.
"Oh yes, i have a whole list I'm going to go through, don't need them threatened by my step brothers best friend!" Annie scoffed playfully.
Although it was a joke, Ethan felt his stomach swirl with jealousy.