OF COURSE IT WAS ETHAN. He sat on the couch in the living room, clad in a casual black shirt paired with matching jeans. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his eyes on her.

And then he smiled. That damned smile that she'd seen so rarely on him. It made him glow.

Something inside Amelia uncoiled, as if relaxing.

"Hi," he said, his voice so low, she only saw his lips move. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked, smiling back at him.

Her mother didn't need to know anything about her life.

"I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd pick you up."

Sometimes, she couldn't decide if he was her devil or her angel.

"Oh. That was really nice of you," she said, nodding stiffly.

He got up, walking towards her. She took a step back. She didn't trust her exhausted mind around him.

"You must be Daniel," he said as he approached them, holding out his hand for Dani. "And you're Joanna. I've heard a lot about you both."

Amelia blinked back her surprise. She'd only mentioned them once, maybe twice. And that too, two years ago.

"Ethan, right? We've heard about you a lot as well," Daniel said, shaking his hand. 

"How about you come with me? I want to talk to you about... stuff," Amelia said lamely as she grabbed his sleeve and started dragging her towards her old room.

She looked back to see twin smirks plastered on both Daniel and Joanna's faces.

She pushed Ethan inside, closing the door behind her. She folded her arms over her chest, fixing him with a glare. 

He ignored her completely though, his eyes rooming over her furniture, the peeling paint and the knickknacks she'd left behind, relics of her previous life.

She was sure he would find things she hadn't even noticed in all her years of living here.

"What are you really doing here?" She demanded.

"So, this was your room," he commented as he sat down on the surprising clean bed.

"I'm asking you something," she tried again.

He looked at her then and she felt her breath hitch.

"What are you doing here, Amelia?" 

"I... what? I'm here for dinner."

"I know. The Christmas dinner but after what happened last time, why are you really here?"

She winced. Last time was two years ago. When Amelia was still with Ethan. When she'd left this same place so angry, she'd decided to ruin her life just like Lily had ruined hers.

And she had almost succeeded in the worst way possible, if it wasn't for Ethan.

"That's why you're here?"

"Don't deflect my question, Amelia."

A pause followed his words. Brown eyes stared back at her so intensely, she felt her knees buckle underneath her.

"I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing here," she whispered, letting the frustration of the day seep into her voice. She allowed the hurt from Joanna's unsaid words to appear on her face. 

"Hey," he exclaimed, standing up immediately, his face folded with concern. 

He held her by the shoulders, his hand cupping her face. She blew a breath, inhaling sharply. She didn't meet his eyes, keeping her gaze somewhere on his chest.

His thumb drew circles on her cheek and she closed her eyes, allowing her mind to forget all the reasons she'd thought of, reasons to stay away from him. 

"It's okay. We can leave right now," he whispered and she realized just how close they were from the way his breath fanned the top of her head.

The moment of peace shattered. They were too close. The list of reasons was back again. 

She took a step back. She saw a dark look cross his features but he composed himself almost immediately.

"I can't. I have to stay till dinner."

A nerve ticked in his jaw and Amelia braced herself for his objections. It never came. He only nodded.

"We can leave after dinner."

She nodded back. She knew she was supposed to tell him to leave. That's what she'd been doing for so long. But she didn't. He could take her home, save her the trouble of having to find a cab and then they'll go their separate ways.

Amelia's phone vibrated in her back pocket and she pulled it out to see a notification from Daniel.

"Your boyfriend?!"

She shoved the phone in her pocket. She can talk to Daniel later. Right now, she just needed to get through dinner.

_______________

When she'd thought meeting Ethan again after two years was her fate trying to fuck with her, she was so completely wrong.

It was nothing compared to the situation she'd found herself in right now.

Ethan's car had broken down in the middle of nowhere and when they'd finally found a solution to that – spending the night at a nearby hotel – they'd found out that the hotel had only one room available.

Now, she paced the length of the room, her heart thumping so loudly against her chest, it was the only thing she could hear.

Ethan had left her alone, saying he had something to do and the wait was killing her.

She had been so exhausted before but now, her brain didn't show even the barest traces of sleep.

The door was pushed open and Amelia stilled. He looked up at her as he walked in, completely unbothered.

He had a shopping bag in his hand which he held out for her.

"What is this?" She asked, looking down at the bag cautiously.

He rolled his eyes before answering. 

"Bought you some clothes. Yours don't look comfortable enough to sleep in."

Amelia blinked, a little speechless.

"I... Thanks. You should... you didn't have to."

This was Ethan Williams. The same Ethan Williams who had acted like he didn't know her after he was done with her. He was the same person who had told her that she could die and he wouldn't even blink an eye.

"No need," he smiled, walking past her.

He fucking smiled. There was something really wrong with him.

"Do you want to order something to eat?" He asked from inside the washroom.

"I... no, we just had dinner," she said, still a little shook.

"Yes but maybe you didn't eat well there?" He asked, approaching her once again.

He was right. She had been too stressed out, too busy avoiding Jo's attempts at an indirect apology and Lily's questions about Ethan and her. 

Ethan, on the other hand, had enjoyed it all a little too much, which was more than surprising for Amelia. He'd answered almost all of Lily's questions gladly, changing the details to make it all a little family friendly.

"Oh, it was at a club. My friend's party. I hadn't liked her much when I'd first met her. She challenged me, annoyed me too much. But the more I got to know her, the more I spent time with her, the more I became obsessed with her."

Amelia had been frozen a long while before she had felt eyes on her. Only then had she managed a forced smile. She had then kicked Ethan under the table for good measures.

"I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure?" He asked. He was now near the windows, shaking them, checking them for something.

She sighed, the sound heavy and tired. It made him turn towards her with a concerned frown.

"What is it?" He asked.

"What do you want?" She asked, voice low.

His frown deepened and he took a step towards her.

"What?"

"I said, what the hell do you want from me?" She yelled.

He barely blinked at her outburst but she saw that dark look from earlier cross his eyes once again.

"What do I want from you?" he asked, taking a step towards her.

Shit.

She took a step back but he was quicker, taking long steps towards her until she was caged, her back against the wall, his arm on one side of her.

"Do you really want to know what I want from you?" He asked, voice calculated and low in a way that turned her knees to jelly.

"I..."

"Shut up, Amelia."

She did. Her heart beat also halted right along.

"What I really want to do is to bend you over and fuck you until this whole floor can hear you screaming my name, the same name you're so hell bent on not saying, even by mistake. And then I want to go down on my knees and worship you just like you deserve."

Every sound in the room stopped. Even she herself stopped breathing.

All she needed was to get up on her tiptoes and she would be kissing him. She felt his hand against the fabric of her shirt. 

Her gasp echoed in the otherwise silent room. 

That fire, that fucking fire she'd missed so desperately, it was back. 

He slid his hand underneath the fabric and she stopped breathing. It was hot and it was branding her.

He inched it upwards, his movements soft and sensual. He'd only been this soft with her twice before.

"You have no idea how desperately I want this," he whispered.

She knew how desperately he wanted it. She could see it all over his face.

She was frozen. She knew she should do something. Push him back or pull him closer. But she couldn't find the courage.

Because if she touched him, she might not be able to stop.

"But I'm not going to touch you until you allow me to," he said at last, withdrawing his hand and taking a step back, giving her the much needed space.

He waited for another second, as if this moment's breath might be the thing that changed her mind.

She didn't move. She didn't even dare breathe.

He nodded, more to himself than to her and then he was out the door before she could blink.