The golden glow of the room felt a little warmer with Ellie there, but the "silence" Ethan had sent was officially a memory of the past.
Just as Annie was about to respond to Ellie's comment about Ethan's stubbornness, Ellie's phone began to vibrate violently against the wooden bedside table, buzzing like a trapped hornet.
The caller ID showed a picture of a guy who looked remarkably like Ellie, but with a grin that suggested he'd just gotten away with something.
"Speak of the devil," Ellie groaned, sliding the green icon. She didn't even say hello. "What do you want, Riley? I'm busy."
"Busy? Please. You haven't been 'busy' a day in your life," Riley's voice crackled through the speaker, loud enough for Annie to hear every word. "I'm at the house and it's empty. Where are you? If you're at that late-night yoga class again, I'm telling Mom you're joining a cult."
"I'm at Annie's, you idiot," Ellie said, rolling her eyes at Annie, who offered a small, awkward wave to the phone as if Riley could see her.
There was a distinct, sharp silence on the other end, followed by a sudden scramble of noise. "Wait- Annie's? You're with Annie? Put her on. Let me see her! Is she okay? Does she need anything? I can bring more snacks. Better snacks. I have the good pretzels."
Annie felt that familiar prickle of discomfort and tightened her grip on her pillow. She liked Riley, but his energy was like a whirlwind she wasn't quite ready to stand in.
"She's fine, Riley, and she has enough snacks to survive a winter," Ellie said, her voice sharpening. "And no, I'm not putting her on. She's covered in paint and exhausted."
"I don't mind the paint! It's an aesthetic!" Riley shouted. Then, his voice dropped, losing some of the frantic edge. "Wait... did Ethan see you go over there? He's been acting like a high-voltage fence lately. He told me if I so much as breathed in the direction of her house or asked you or anyone for her phone number one more time, he'd personally ensure I never used my thumbs again. He said she needs space, El. Like, real space."
Annie looked toward the window again. She knew Ethan was protective, but hearing it out loud- knowing he was shielding her even from his own friends and keeping her world quiet, made her heart do a strange, heavy flutter.
"Ethan is just being Ethan," Ellie said, glancing at Annie's blushing face. "And he's right. She's dealing with a lot. So, keep your 'aesthetic' comments to yourself for once."
"I am! I'm keeping them!" Riley insisted, though he sounded wounded. "I haven't even mentioned her name in your presence in two days. That's a record for me. Tell her... tell her I said hey. And that I'm being very respectful and mature. Use those exact words: Respectful and Mature."
Annie leaned in closer to the phone, her voice soft and a bit hesitant. "I heard you, Riley. Thank you. For... beingmature."
"Annie! She speaks!" Riley's excitement was palpable, but he caught himself, clearing his throat. "Right. Yeah. No problem. Just... youknow. Taking it slow. Like a turtle. A very respectful turtle. Okay, El, don't keep her up all night, she needs her rest. Bye!"
He hung up abruptly, leaving a ringing silence in the room.
Ellie stared at her phone. "A respectful turtle. That's what we're dealing with. My DNA is half-composed of that."
Annie let out a genuine laugh, the first one that didn't feel forced in weeks. "He means well."
"He does," Ellie agreed, her expression turning serious as she looked toward the window. "But he's also terrified of Ethan. Which, honestly? Valid. Ethan doesn't make threats he isn't willing to carry out when it comes to you."
"I've only been here for eight days, I doubt he feels that strongly," Annie shook her head, keeping her gaze away from the window and away from Ellie as a slight blush eurrupted on her cheeks.
"But you've known eachother howlong?" Ellie retorted, knowing that Annie had a history in LakeVille and had known Ethan for quite a while.
"We've known eachother existed for... 10 years," Annie murmured, "but he knew the childhood me, the unbroken me. He doesn't know who I am today. He can't seriously think about me all the time," Annie's shook her head again, swiping a black piece of hair behind her ear.
Ellie let out a soft, huffing sound, the kind that was part-laugh and part-exasperation. She leaned back against the headboard, stretching her legs out comfortably.
"Ten years, Annie. That's not a 'history,' that's a saga," Ellie said, her voice softening but maintaining that playful edge. "And for the record? The 'unbroken' version of you was probably great, but Ethan isn't the type of guy who looks for easy or perfect. He's always been a bit of a collector of things that have soul, hasn't he? He's a loner because most people are too shallow for him to bother with."
She reached over and nudged Annie's knee with her foot. "You think he's protective because he's 'nice'? Please. Ethan is civil when he has to be, but he's intentional with you. If he didn't think about you all the time, he wouldn't be out there acting like a one-man security detail against my brother's nonsense. He's showing you his version of 'gentle,' which for Ethan, is basically a grand romantic gesture."
Ellie tilted her head, watching the way Annie tried to hide her blush behind her hair.
"The silence he sent? That wasn't just a text. That was him telling you he's willing to sit in the dark with you until you're ready for the light again. It's a little intense, yeah, but it's very him. He's definitely got it bad, even if he's trying- and failing, to be subtle about it."
She popped another snack into her mouth and shrugged casually. "Besides, I've seen him look at his window when your lights come on. He's not exactly checking the weather, honey."