"A year after you left a freak fire happened, we lost everything," replied Ethan, "it took mum and I a year and a half to fully rebuild the house, it's not entirely the same as it used to be, but we tried to make it as close as possible to what it was before. But unfortunately, nothing survived," Ethan frowned.
Annie moved her gaze over to Ethan, noticing how the light from the flames danced across his sharp features, making his black hair shine a deep firery gold. "I'm so sorry Ethan, that's terrible," Annie said as she set her hand on his arm, "I know its not the same-" Annie sighed, "but you'll always have the memories of him."
Ethan gave Annie a small smile which Annie returned. Getting out of the gloomy atmosphere, Annie started a new subject, "so your birthday is coming up in a few weeks, excited oldman?" Annie poked.
Ethan let out a chuckle, rotating his marshmallow slowly over the embers. "Oldman? Careful, Doll. I might be 'aging,' but I'm still fast enough to steal that perfect golden-brown marshmallow you're working on." He glanced at her, the firelight catching the smirk on his face. He nudged her shoulder with his. "We've got three years of birthdays to make up for, don't we? I think you owe me more than just a poke for this one. What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing in particular comes to mind, what do you want to do?" Annie asked.
Ethan looked at Annie for a long moment, trying to read her face. He was slightly dumbfounded that she had asked what he wanted to do, for quite some time life had been just coasting by. It had been quite a while since someone asked what hewanted to do. "I don't know," he shrugged, "have a nice dinner with company I enjoy."
"Sounds nice," Annie smiled at Ethan before turning her attention back to her marshmellow.
"What about your birthday?" Asked Ethan, "it's a few weeks after mine, got any plans?"
Annie shook her head, "I don't think I want to do anything for my birthday, maybe eat a buttload of junk food and curl up with a book," Annie shrugged.
Ethan shook his head, a slow, knowing grin spreading across his face. "A book and junk food? Not on my watch." He leaned in a little closer, the heat of the fire between them, He nudged her shoulder again, lingering a second longer this time. "Tell you what- I'll make a deal with you. You come to my dinner, and in return, I get to hijack your birthday. I promise the junk food will still be involved, but the company will be a lot better."
Annie let out a little giggle, a smile on her face as she concentrated on the fire, "I'll take it, but I think you'll be bored with the book, so what instead?" Annie asked.
"Oh, so you're worried about keeping me entertained now?" Ethan chuckled, leaning back on his elbows but keeping his gaze on her. "I'll tell you what, we'll skip the book, and you can spend the night telling me everything I missed while you were gone. Every embarrassing story, every detail. That should keep me busy for at least a few hours." He winked. "Plus, I get to see you talk. That's a win for me."
Annies face flushed at the thought that all Ethan needed her to do was talk all night to not be bored.
He let out a low, amused hum, noticing the pink creeping into her face. Ethan watched her for a moment, his expression softening as he noticed the color in her cheeks. He gave her a small, lopsided smile and bumped his shoulder gently against hers. "I think the fire is winning the heat competition," he said softly, his voice barely carrying over the crackle of the wood. "Does the idea of me hanging on your every word really have you that rattled? Because I meant it. I'm all ears," he chuckled lightly at the red growing on her cheeks, "It's good to have you back, Annie. Really."
Annie tucked a stray hair behind her ear, finally finding the courage to look away from the flames and meet his eyes.
"You say that now," she teased with a small, shy smile. "But three years is a lot of boring stories about library late-nights and failed recipes. You might want to be careful what you wish for, Ethan. You'll be begging for that book back by midnight." She joked, though her eyes stayed on his for a second too long. She nudged him back, her shoulder lingering against his. "Don't get too full of yourself, though. If I'm talking all night, that means you're on 'snack duty.' Deal? And for the record? It's good to be back. Even if you are a little bit of a troublemaker."
Ethan gave a low, quiet laugh, but it didn't reach his eyes this time. He let his shoulder stay pressed against hers, the warmth between them shifting from playful to something more protective. "Deal. I can handle snack duty," he murmured. He went quiet for a heartbeat, his gaze drifting back to the fire. "But Annie... I wasn't joking about wanting to hear everything. We don't have to talk about it if you aren't ready, but I've been wondering, your stomach.." Ethan trailed off, "whathappened?" He whispered.
Annie let out a small hopeless smile as she to, stare into the fire, done roasting marshmellows. "I mean, I'm sure you could guess," Annie murmured, "they held me and tried to gut me, but I got away in time."
"Annie," Ethan whispered almost inaudibly, "who did that to you?"
Annie shook her head, "it's not worth putting up a fuss about it, it's my word against like 6 people, best to forgive but not forget."
"How old were they?" Ethan asked.
"Same age as us, varying by a few years but you get the gist," Annie shrugged. "I'm over it all, and as long as they are too, then everything will be fine."
"Those are some fucked up kids," Ethan murmured before moving his gaze back to Annie.
Annie had truly caught his attention from the time she stepped out of that taxi. It wasn't because she grew up to be a beautiful woman- though she was that beforehand, and it wasn't because she was still kind or shy.
It was because of how brave and mature she seemed to be, life had dealt her a bad hand and she came out stronger holding her head up with grace.
That's how he knew he was going to fall for her, maybe not now, maybe not in the coming months. But he knew the more he hung around her, noticing the grace, the maturity, the bravness- it was bound to happen.
And he wasn't sure if he was thrilled or nervous over that single thought.