A/N--Heya guys!  So...there's really not much to say for this chapter :/  The pic on the side is of our lovely leading man Ethan! He's just so damn attractive *drool*.  ANYWAYS...I hope you all enjoy the chapter :)  Please vote, leave comments, and fan!

"So..." Darla says to me three nights later as we're both vegging out in our theater room, the two of us deciding to spend the day before everyone gets home together watching romantic comedies, as per her request. If it had been me, we'd probably be watching super hero movies or plain old comedies, me not being such a fan of romantic comedies. I know I know, us girls who don't like them are a dying breed. Whatever. 

She looks over at me and asks, "What's going on with you and Ethan? That intense tonsil hockey match I saw a week ago definitely told me something." 

I cringe just remembering that night, how heated of a kiss she had managed to walk in on. Although that kiss will probably be alive in my memory for the rest of my life, the mention of her seeing that still paints a red stain on my cheeks. So mortifying. But still, she deserves to not be lied to, unlike my parents. That's really not my decision though. Damn upcoming tour. I tell her honestly, "We're together, I guess, but we're keeping it under wraps, since it won't be fair to have something serious for just a couple of months." 

She says dryly, "Well that sucks." 

"Tell me about it," I sigh, snuggling deeper into my lady bug pillow pet. Yes it's true. My nineteen-year-old self has a pillow that resembles a lady bug. Whatever. I love the thing to pieces. "I finally find a guy who likes me for something other than the physical stuff, but we can't get serious." 

She looks over at me, and for the first time in my life I see actual pity in her eyes. But she doesn't say anything sympathetic to me; instead she just cracks a joke and says, "At least he's hot." 

"That he is," I agree wholeheartedly, just thinking about how ready I am to see that gorgeous face of his tomorrow. My God, the days where Darla wasn't even here almost killed me. I kind of just wandered the house aimlessly, not really knowing what to do with myself. Long story short, I'm pretty sure I've seen just about every episode of Law and Order SVU.  

We both look back to the screen, where Justin Timberlake is confessing his feelings to an unfairly gorgeous Mila Kunis after an admittedly adorable flash mob. This movie isn't too bad, I do have to admit that. The humor is kind of amazing, and Mila Kunis' character is so freaking relatable that it's not even funny. Except for the fact that her looks put just about anyone to shame.  

I then feel a buzz in my pocket and when I slip my phone out, a small smile graces my lips when I see Ethan's name on screen. It's yet another text from the guy, who I've been in pretty much constant contact with since he's been gone. I miss him more than I care to admit, and I'm more then antsy to have him back home.  

24 hours til I'm back :D, the text reads. 

I absolutely love how cute and childish he can be over text message. It makes me feel like I'm not the only one who's too deep into this temporary relationship thing we have going on right now. I extracting my other hand from where it's buried in the knitted blanket covering me, I type back: It's still too long :/  

Feeling a bit warm knowing that he's going to smile when he reads that, I turn the screen off and, keeping it in my hand for quick access when he replies, look back to the movie. 

But before I can even do that, I catch the knowing look coming from my sister, who's grinning like she knows what I'm up to. She says, "You're pathetic, you know that?" 

"Shut the hell up," I say, letting my foot kick her in the side of her arm. While she's sitting up in her chair like a normal human being, I'm sprawled on mine in some weird ball like thing. I really don't care though. If I'm going to be watching movies all day, I want to be lying down.  

Quickly changing the subject, she asks me, "So are y'all gonna tell mom and dad?" 

I shake my head, knowing that she probably won't approve but not knowing what else to do. And sure enough, her lips turn downward just a little bit, as if she's not at all happy about having to lie to the two of them. Wanting her to understand why, I explain, "I wanted to, I really did...it's just...Ethan doesn't want to make anything serious. Like we're a secret or something, I guess. I don't know." 

She's quiet for a moment, taking all of that information in, and then she asks me, "So if I hadn't walked in..." 

She trails off, and I immediately know where she's going with this. She wants to know if I would've kept it from her, and I know the answer. I would have. I really don't want to admit to that, knowing that it'll most likely hurt her feelings, but I can't lie to her. I'm done with lying to her...I want our relationship to be good and honest now that we finally have one. I nod solemnly and say, "I probably wouldn't have told you." 

"Nice," she says, and judging from the tone of her voice, I know that I've hurt her feelings.  

Immediately feeling bad, I scramble to find something to say to ease away the fact that I've hurt her. I say, "Well look it at this way, if you hadn't known...you wouldn't have had to be mentally scarred by walking in on us." 

That gets a grin out of her, I see, my stomach immediately feeling lighter. She says, "That's true. That was nasty." 

"Not to me," I tease, kicking lightly at her arm again. 

"Gross, Hallie!" she scolds, smacking my shin and then going back to the movie, obviously wanting the subject of Ethan and I's wonderful make out to be over. 

Whatever, I can always replay it in my head. 

XXXXXXX 

"Hey dad!" I say excitedly, putting all of the enthusiasm I have for finally getting to see Ethan into greeting my dad so that neither of my parents gets suspicious. Ethan hasn't made it through the front door yet, but the minute that I heard the front door open I flew out of the kitchen so fast that I'm surprised I didn't slip on the knee socks I'm wearing. Pathetic, I know, but I really did miss him, okay? More than I thought I would.  

"Hi princess," he greets, sounding just a bit suspicious at my random happiness at their arrival back home, but pulling me into one of his big bear hugs nevertheless. He smells like he always does, like his comfy Calvin Klein cologne and with the light tinge of beer. I may not have missed him as much as Ethan, but I definitely missed him. I love my dad. "How was your weekend?" 

"Boring," I say truthfully, just referring to the part of the weekend after Friday night. After that huge blowup, my weekend was boring. I stewed about the fight for a good bit of it, but other than that I haven't had to deal with anything revolving around the fight. No one's tried to contact me, of course. I don't mean that much to them. "How was y'alls trip?" 

But I can't be bothered to hear his answer because the front door has opened once again and I know exactly who is walking through. My legs literally start twitching with the need to run over to him and throw my arms around him in a huge hug, but in some way or another I refrain, knowing that I'll just have to control myself. So instead of doing what I really want, I pull away from my dad and look over at Ethan who looks the epitome of traveling casual, what with his grey sweatpants and his semi-tight T-shirt. God, he's gorgeous. 

I smile over at him, trying to convey how much I've missed him and how happy I am to see him in one little quirk of the lips. I know that it works, though, because he does that happy grin he does, his eyes lighting up in excitement. My God I've missed him. I say, "Hey Ethan." 

"Hi Hal," he says, and I can just hear the control in his voice, as if he's trying to talk to me in the most casual of ways instead of the deep and husky yet somehow playful voice he always talks to me in. It makes me feel like I want to burst out of my chest.  

Darla coughs from where she's standing by my mom, the two of them talking excitedly about this to-die-for shirt that my mom bought her while out shopping, and I feel a light blush taint my cheeks. Bitch. She's just loving the fact that I can't just jump Ethan like I really want to. 

So instead of tempting myself even further by being around the guy, I just leave the room and instead head upstairs into my room, where I really need to get myself in line. It's pathetic how excited I am just because Ethan's back in town. He's not even my boyfriend. He's just some guy I really like...who happens to like me back. And who kisses really awesomely and makes me feel like I'm not a total bore to be around. Who makes me feel decently about myself.  

I shut my bedroom door behind me and then lean against it, letting out a big huff of air. Darko jumps up from his bed across the room and sprints over to me, but for the first time in my life I cannot be bothered to pick him up and smother him in kisses. Instead I just tell him, "Go lay back down, boy," even though I know he can't hear me. He eventually gets the message after I don't pick him up, and then with his tail wagging significantly slowly than it did when he got up, he trots back to his bed. 

Poor guy. 

"Hallie?" I hear on the other side of my door, right before a light rapping of knuckles.  

My heart leaping into my chest, I turn around and rip open the door, revealing a sinfully grinning Ethan. Biting down on my bottom lip, I reach up and with eager fingers I grasp onto his shirt and yank him into the room. He quietly shuts the door behind him and before I can even blink, he's pressed me against the door with his lower body, his arms snaking up to rest on the wall right above my head. 

Nearly fainting in anticipation and happiness and lust and every other feeling there is in this world, I reach up to grab his shirt again and instead pull him down so that he's finally, finally kissing me. He immediately dives wholeheartedly into the kiss, his lips delving into my own, making everything feel right and in place since he left. 

My fingers unclench themselves from his shirt and while one moves to cup his perfectly lined jaw so that he can't move away from me, the other drapes itself over his shoulder, bringing him just the littlest bit closer. He smiles against my lips and pulls away from me, my bottom lip feeling heavy and pleasantly swollen when he does. He whispers against my wet mouth, "I love the socks." 

I look down at my feet, Ethan's forehead falling ever-so-slightly to rest on the side of my cheek, and giggle when I see the rainbow knee socks ornamenting my feet. Earlier on in the morning Darla and I were messing around and sliding around on the shiny linoleum floors in the kitchen, and I guess I just haven't thought about taking them off. Whatever. They're pretty awesome anyway.  

My head leans back up and as I rest it against the door behind me, my eyes meet his shining blue ones. "They're pretty awesome, eh?" I grin, the hand that had been on the back of his shoulder coming forward to rest on the top of his chest. 

"Pretty damn sexy," he grins wickedly, the words practically lighting my whole body on fire before he leans back in and captures my lips against his. No one has ever called me sexy before...not a soul. I had no idea I could actually be sexy. And so to be called such a thing by the person who is the definition of sexy...it does things to me. 

I gasp a bit at the heat of everything, at how his lips move beautifully against my own and how his tongue works wonders against my own. I just really don't understand how something so hot and so pleasurable can be so natural, so easy. I don't get it. But I love it dearly. 

Both of my arms reach up and twine around his neck, pulling him as close to me as possible. I can almost feel the reverberations from his throat as he grunts a bit, him putting his warm hands on my waist. Almost painfully slowly he slides his fingers just the slightest bit up my shirt, his pleasantly calloused fingers grabbing at the skin of my hips.  

"Hallie!" my mom's voice calls through the wooden door, making Ethan's grasp on my waist tighten for just a moment, before he reluctantly pulls away. He seems almost dazed at first, and I can't help but revel in the fact that I caused him to look like that. But then, almost as if a cog in his brain has snapped, his eyes widen and he curses underneath his breath.  

And then he darts into my closet. 

It's weird at first, the feeling I get in my chest, but then I realize exactly what it is. I feel cheap and dirty...almost ashamed of myself. Just seconds ago Ethan was acting like I was the only girl on the planet that he wanted, like he couldn't get enough of me. But now...now that someone else has entered the picture he wants to act like he doesn't even know me. 

And I'd understand it if he didn't want my mom to guess what we were getting up to in here, but that's not just it. He doesn't want anyone to know. Not a soul. He wants us to be the only two people in the world that know what we're doing...except for Darla. But that was just an accident.  

Is he ashamed of me? 

I feel tears start brewing in the corner of my eyes, but before they can make themselves known and drip onto my cheeks, I feel the knocking of my mom's fist on the door on my back. "Hallie! Come on, it doesn't take forever and a day to open the door." 

"One second," I yell back at her, trying my hardest to not sound like I'm right on the other side of the door. I quickly wipe away at the nonexistent tears on my face and then turn around to face the door, pulling it open just a moment later. 

She scolds lightly, "You disappeared before I could ask you how your weekend was," and then brings me into a hug. It's been almost a year since my mom and I have been on good enough terms to hug each other after not seeing each other for a while, and here I am risking losing that. I can't do that...I can't lose my relationship with her now that it's finally decent.  

"It was alright," I tell her truthfully, "Kind of boring." 

She pulls away and smiles at me, a smile I haven't seen from her in so long. "What'd you do?" 

"Watched a ton of movies, washed Darko...random stuff around the house." This is true. With the exception of Friday night, I spent every day digging around in the house for something to do. Sunday night Darla and I found a dusty old Chutes and Ladders box, and we ended up spending the majority of that night playing.  

"How is that dog?" my mom asks, peering over my shoulder and into my bedroom. I turn my head over my shoulder and look in the same direction as she, and smile softly to myself when I see Darko chewing away at his foot, one of the only things he does when he's awake. "He can't come downstairs unless you carry him." 

"He's good," I say, turning back to face her. "I feel bad because he can't really do anything, but I don't have the heart to put him down. He's my baby." 

"I know," she says fondly. "And you shouldn't even think about putting him down...I'm pretty sure he's happy how he is. His tail is always wagging. But look, I also came up here to tell you that we're going to go out for supper...I'm too jet-lagged to cook anything." 

"Alright," I nod, happy that I'm going to finally get out of the house with people. Over the past few days the only time I got out was when I took Darko for a walk, which usually consists of him walking a couple of yard and then getting so tired that I have to pick him up and carry him. 

She backs away from the door and says, "I'll come get you when we're about to go," and then with that, she disappears into the hallway.  

As soon as I shut my bedroom door, I hear the door to my closet open and see Ethan walk out, his hands deep in the confines of his pockets. And as I look on at the expression on his face, I know that he saw me wipe away at my tearless cheeks a few minutes ago. Stupid guy probably didn't shut the closet door all the way. 

Great, just great. 

He looks over at me, his face much more solemn than it was when he first came in here, and asks me, "What's wrong?" 

I really don't want to say this, but I have to. I can't be with him if I'm going to have to lie to my parents. I want a good relationship with them, I really do...and I feel like that's more important than a relationship with a guy who, albeit is extremely attractive and possibly the only guy to find me worth their time, wants to hide said relationship. If I'm going to give him the ultimatum, I need to do it before I get in even deeper. 

I'm already dreading the emotional state I'll sink into if he says he'd rather end things then tell my parents, but I know that it'll just get worse as time goes on. I'm already falling faster than I'd care to admit. I lean back against the door, needing the support, before I gather up the guts and tell him, "I want to tell my parents...you know, about us." 

"Hallie..."he starts, and just by the tone of his voice I know that he's going to call quits. It just sounds like he's about to let me down. I feel my throat start to burn with the promise of tears, my stomach feeling slightly hollow. I've never been broken up with before and I really did not want to start today.  

He takes a couple of steps closer to me so that he's just about an arm's length away, before asking me, "Why make this serious if I have to leave?" 

Feeling a bit angry that he's making me out to sound like some clingy girl who just wants a boyfriend for the label, I say a bit harshly, "Because I don't want to lie to them...not anymore." 

He sighs, and his eyes fall from my face onto the ground, as if he can't look me in the eye. So this is it I guess? This is how he's going to end it? Not even looking at me because he knows it's going to hurt? Fine. Feeling tears starting to pool in my eyes at the thought of him walking out like this, just because he doesn't find me relationship-worthy like every other guy I've dealt with, I cross my arms over my chest, and say coldly, "You can leave now." 

His blue eyes immediately snap up and his mouth drops, as if he definitely wasn't expecting that. Well what was he expecting? For me to keep him up here for a nice little chat after he basically just told me that I wasn't special enough to be with for two months? That the idea of being with me while he's on tour is just ridiculous? I may have low self-esteem, but I'm not that pathetic. I'm not going to be in a relationship if it has a time limit. "Hals? What...?" 

"If you don't want to do this anymore then get the fuck out of my bedroom," I seethe, and to my utter humiliation, the tears finally start to sprinkle onto my cheeks. I honestly never thought that such a good guy would do this to me, would just use me like this. Did he just want to be with me because I was the only thing with boobs nearby? Well...in his age range at least.  

"Hey," he says, and in mere seconds he's pulled me flush against his chest and knotted his hands together behind my back. I look up at him, angry and humiliated and upset and really wishing that it didn't feel so good to be wrapped up with him like this. Why can't this just be easy? He meets eyes with me and says, "I never said I wasn't going to...I just...you just caught me off guard there. When I asked you that...I didn't mean that I wasn't going to leave because of that. We can tell your parents...it's just a...it's just kind of a scary thought." 

"Why?" I ask him, suddenly feeling like an utter loser for overreacting like that. I'm such a baby when it comes to him, and that's the one thing I promised myself I wouldn't become for a guy. I never wanted to be that clingy, emotional girlfriend, but...it really hurt to think of not being with him, even if we've only been "together" for a week or two.  

He cracks a timid smile and says, "When your dad first offered to let me live here...he said that there were a few rules. A few rules he was really intense about." 

"What were they?" I ask him, extremely curious. My dad's always been so easy-going, the complete opposite of my mom, so to hear that he was making rules and being really tense about them is surprising. 

He says, "Never touch his guitar," and I nod knowingly, thinking back to all of the times he's yelled at me for just getting too close to it. He continues, "Never complain about the food, which is really easy since it's so good; don't come home drunk, don't do drugs or smoke in the house, and don't fool around with his daughter. Because she's too good for a scumbag like you." 

"He said that to you?!" I exclaim, wondering why on earth my dad would call Ethan of all people a scumbag. He's seriously the farthest thing from it. Sure I thought he was an ass a few minutes ago, but I was an emotional wreck. I can't be held liable for what I call people. 

He smirks at my sudden outburst, looking a lot happier since I'm sticking up for him instead of telling him to get the fuck out of my bedroom. He says, "He was just joking when he said that part, but...he was serious about the you part. And I just...I really like living here; I don't want to get kicked out or anything." 

"Well you're not going to get kicked out if I have any say," I tell him seriously, now extremely protective of this relationship now that he's letting it actually become one. If he's willing to get kicked out instead of living here and not being with me, then obviously he cares about me. We'll deal with the tour when it gets here, but now that he's willing to not be a secret...he can't leave. Not when I have such easy access to him. 

"Aww..." he coos obnoxiously, leaning in and pressing his forehead against my own. "You would fight for me?" 

Even though his nearness is making my stomach do summersaults, I somehow or another swallow the urge to just pounce on him and instead push his shoulder. 

"You're so fucking weird."