Soon a bonfire was lit, the parents had went to bed. Rebecca, Sarah and Max had left, leaving Ethan, Kyson, Riley, Vanessa, Peggy, Ellie and Annie to sit around the fire. Shades of orange, red, and pink colored the sky long ago, now sat the dark blue hue of the sky, the stars and moon making an appearance on the warm summer night.
Riley stood quickly, pulling Kyson with him to the front of the house as Peggy and Vanessa whispered to eachother giggling. "Were going to go check on the guys," Peggy giggled as they walked towards where Kyson and Riley had left.
"It's a nice night," commented Ellie.
"It is a nice night," Annie smiled, "warm, I'm going to miss this when school starts again," Ellie nodded her head in agreement.
"Did you have a good time?" Ethan asked from beside her, "for future reference, don't need to throw you another party you'll hate."
Annie chuckled, "what, you're going to throw me another party? Is it a going away party or something?" Annie poked him on the arm.
"Hopefully not, I think you should stick around longer this time," Ethan commented. A light blush appeared on Annie's cheeks, if asked about it she would blame it on the warmth of the fire, but she knew the real reason why her heart thuded an extra beat.
"Weeere baaack!" Riley said in a sing-song voice, Riley and Kyson held boxes of liqour in their hands.
Riley pulled a chair up between Ellie and Annie, slinging his arm over Annie's chair, "I hope you didn't miss me to much."
Annie chuckled, leaning away slightly from his draped arm. "It was actually remarkably peaceful, wasn't it, Ethan?" She didn't wait for an answer, Annie nudged his arm off the back of her chair as she reached for a drink. "But thanks for the concern. We managed to survive the solitude somehow," Annie joked.
Ethan stifled a laugh, Ellie couldn't do the same as she burst into a fit of giggles, Annie chuckling at her new friend for reacting so abruptly at her words. Riley sat there, mouth agape, not sure how to recover.
"Oh Annie!" Peggy chirped from behind her, as Annie turned her attention to Peggy, a cold drink was poured down her head, the smell tangy of yeast.
Ethan jumped up, "Peggy! What the hell!?" He shouted at her, Annie sat in stunned silence as she stared at the fire.
"I-it was just a j-joke Ethan, don't be s-silly," stumbled Peggy, her earlier confidence shattered seeing Ethan defend Annie so readily.
Ethan pulled Annie up by her elbow, his grip firm but not aggressive. "That wasn't a joke and you know it," he narrowed his eyes at the blonde woman who only pouted back at him. "Come on Annie, let's get you cleaned up."
Ethan led them into his house, leading her up to his room and into the bathroom that was in his room, "feel free to take a shower," he said as he left the bathroom for a moment, pulling out a large sweater for her.
Annie gave Ethan a grateful smile, as Ethan left the bathroom, Annie turned on the shower and quickly rinsed the beer from her hair. As she stepped out and dried herself off with the towel, she put her dry swim shorts back on accompanied with Ethans sweater.
As Annie pulled on his sweater the first thing she noticed was the masculine scent the wafted through her nose. The next thing she noticed was just how soft and oversized it was. It's hem ran to the edge of her knees, making it look more like a sweater- dress then a regular sweater that a man casually wore.
As Annie stepped out of Ethans bathroom, Ethan sat on his bed casually, waiting for her.
When Ethans gaze met Annie's, he took in her appearance. He couldn't deny that she looked amazing in his clothes, even if it was just his sweater. Ethan had to stop himself from wondering if there was anything underneath, knowing those thoughts lead to trouble for himself.
"I sent everyone home, Peggy kind of killed the mood," Ethan said, rolling his eyes at Peggy's name.
"Oh well I can go home too, I don't want to impose-" Annie started.
"No, please stay, the fire is still going, we got time, I don't want the night to end on that sour note for you," he smiled, holding out his hand for Annie to follow.
Annie gave Ethan a grateful smile and took his hand as he led them back to the bonfire. The fairy lights were lit up, the night was quiet except for the crackling of the fire and the chirp of crickets. Ethan led Annie to a new chair infront of the fire, a table sat beside Ethans chair who sat directly beside her.
"Where's Kyson?" Asked Annie.
"He's taking Peggy and Vanessa home," replied Ethan, Annie nodded.
Ethan handed Annie a marshmallow and a firestick, "thank you," Annie smiled, taking the supplies and starting to roast her marshmallow. "Did you know there is a technique to roasting the perfect marshmallow?" She asked.
"I didn't, tell me about it," said Ethan as he started roasting his own marshmallow which swiftly caught on fire, "Okay yeah I need the pointers, tellme," he chuckled.
"Well watch me," said Annie, Annie put her Marshmellow directly in the top of the flame, swirling the marshmallow from side to side in and out of the flame, twirling it every once in a while, soon the marshmallow grew to double its side, turning a nice golden colour. "My mother taught me how to properly roast a marshmallow," said Annie.
Annie made up the smore and handed it to Ethan, "try it, it'll never be the same ever again," said Annie.
Ethan took a bite from the smore, an immediate groan escaping his lips, "no, it will never be the same, this is to die for," Annie giggled at Ethan's reaction as she loaded another marshmallow on her stick.
"So I have to ask, and I'm sorry if I'm overstepping. Callmecurious," Annie started as she stared at the roasting marshmallow.
"Go ahead," answered Ethan.
"There's not one picture of your father in your house," Annie bit her lip, "why?"