"Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away."

-Hitch

~~~~~~~~~

"So how's everything going there?' Sandy asked, her voice crackling through the phone's speaker.

"Good," Kelsey said, glancing at Roadkill, who was perched on her bed and thumping his tail against the wall.

"Anything crazy happen while I've been gone?"

"Uh no, nothing I can think of. Everything's going pretty normal."

Kelsey slid off the bench of her vanity and rummaged through her closet to find something suitable to wear before Ethan came in ten minutes. "What about you?"

"Oh, it's... it's good."

"You don't sound convincing."

"Well, you know how this business stuff goes. Alex and the realtor go off to look at different vineyards and I stay in the car. She seems nice though."

"She?"

"Yeah," Sandy offered a weak laugh. "Her and Alex seem to get along."

I'm sure, Kelsey thought. "Do you think he'll buy something?"

"I think so!" Sandy replied, her voice sounding more excited. "It's just beautiful up here, Kel! I love L.A., but a nice summer vacation would be so perfect here. I've snapped so many pictures for the blog, I can't wait to come home and edit them!"

They chatted while Kelsey tucked a white blouse into a loose pink skirt and buckled a leather belt around her waist. Though she'd been trying to do something nice with her hair, it had decided not to cooperate no matter what she did, so it ended up in a regular ponytail.

She glanced at her watch and said, "I'm going to have to let you go, but I'll see you tomorrow."

"Where are you going?"

Kelsey hesitated as she pulled on a pair of brown flats. "Uh, nowhere. We just needed some milk."

"Okay—oh, wait! I almost forgot to tell you; we're coming back tonight instead of tomorrow."

Kelsey's eyes widened. "Oh, good. What time?"

"Not until later."

"Alright then, I'll see you tonight. Be safe."

Kelsey hung up and grabbed her purse. She fluffed up Roadkill's bed and kissed his nose.

"Be good," she warned. Hopefully Sandy wouldn't come home before Kelsey got back.

A knock at the door made her jump as nervousness tightened her stomach.

"It's fine, it's not a big deal," she whispered, walking to the door and turning the handle.

Ethan stood there, wearing a baseball cap and dark glasses dangling from his shirt collar. When he saw Kelsey, his face melted into a puppy dog smile that made Kelsey blush and he straightened. "Hey."

Kelsey smiled back, finding that he looked different when she stood taller than him on the doorstep. "Hi."

"How're you?"

"Good."

They glanced at everything but each other for an uncomfortable amount of time before Kelsey said, "Roadkill's been good too."

Ethan's face lit up. "Really? Can I see him?"

Kelsey led him back inside and opened the door to her room. Roadkill jumped up, tail a blur, acting just as excited as if Kelsey had been gone for weeks instead of a minute.

"Hey there buddy!" Ethan got on his knees and rubbed Roadkill's face in between his hands.

They played with the dog for a long while, calling him to either side of the room and pretending to be grossed out when he licked their face.

"I hope you don't have any time-sensitive plans," Kelsey laughed as Roadkill shook one of her socks with such vigor that he almost fell over.

"Oh crap, we actually do," Ethan cried, getting to his feet and helping Kelsey up.

"Is it that fancy?" Kelsey asked, following him to the door.

"You're gonna love it," Ethan promised. "There's like never any people there!"

"Ethan, seriously? Do you really think I'm some sort of weird hermit?"

Ethan opened the car door for her and gave a bow. "Just trying to respect the bubble, madam."

Kelsey rolled her eyes and curtsied. "I'm thinking about pushing you out of that bubble, if you're not careful."

They drove down the road and Kelsey looked around at the sandy hills dotted with dark greenery passing by. The bright afternoon sun highlighted the different hues against the tan background and she couldn't tear her eyes away. "How's your mom doing?"

"Good, actually," Ethan replied. "But her insurance decided not to pay for her next chemo appointment. I insisted on giving the money to Dad, but he refused, which is beyond stupid."

"Is she doing better, though?"

"She is. I really think she might beat it if she gets the chemo treatments."

Kelsey nodded and pulled on her lip thoughtfully. "What if you just sent him a check, no questions asked? There's no need to make him confess that he needs help."

"That's true," Ethan admitted.

He pointed to a small, rather shabby-looking theater and slowed down. "That was where I first performed in California."

"Really?" Kelsey craned her neck to get a better look. "What play was it?"

"Guess."

"My Fair Lady?"

"Nope."

"Les Mis?"

"Nope. Wizard of Oz," he mused. "Guess which part."

"Hmm, the Lion?"

"Close."

"Tin-Man?"

"Bingo."

"No," Kelsey laughed, the image of Ethan in metallic face-paint and a tinfoil suit almost too stupid to fathom.

"Hey, don't hate on me so fast," he said. "That was where my agent spotted me and took me to the big screen."

"What made him choose you? The way you said 'if only I had a heart' or when you cried tears of oil?"

"Shut up," Ethan snickered.

Kelsey squinted closer. "Hey, there's a show on at five! Do you think we could go?"

She thought she noticed a look of fear cross Ethan's features and his jaw tightened. "You don't actually want to go see a play, do you?"

"No, really! It'd be so fun!"

"You don't want to see L.A.? The Walk of Fame? Wax museum? Downtown?" He sounded desperate.

"I think it'd be really cool," Kelsey said earnestly. "I mean, unless you don't want to?"

Ethan surveyed the theater heavily. He took in a deep breath. "Yeah... yeah, that'd be great."

~~~~~~~~

Blaine Café was a picturesque restaurant far outside L.A. It was small, quaint, and served all of its food on tiny white plates laced with leafy designs.

There wasn't any indoor seating, but made room for its customers with black, umbrella-clad tables outside that were scattered on a wooden porch.

A white beach stretched out on either side and nothing filled Kelsey's ears except for the sound of waves and soft ballads playing on the speakers.

"This is amazing," she whispered, afraid if she spoke too loudly it would shatter the moment.

She and Ethan sat down and were immediately served lemon water and a small salad.

"And you're going to love the food," Ethan said. "It would even make Julia Child stop in her tracks."

Kelsey ordered salmon with a salad and roasted potatoes.

Whatever conversation they had during the meal was lost to her. The lemon and pepper sprinkled across the beautifully cooked salmon was so magical that Kelsey thought she was in heaven. And the potatoes had a certain sweetness to them, while the salad contained just enough vinegar to compliment its counterparts.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked, giving a smirk at Kelsey's wistful expression.

"You have no idea how amazing this is," Kelsey sighed. "I'm never eating Ramen at home again."

"You eat Ramen?"

"Of course. What, did you think I make some sort of gourmet dish every time I eat?"

Ethan shrugged and took another bite of his soup. "I guess so, yeah."

Kelsey snickered. "The only reason I cook fancy stuff after-hours is to impress you."

Ethan almost spit out his soup. "Ha, please! The only reason you tolerate me coming into the kitchen is because it's hard to make one serving. I'm onto you, Kelsey, nothing can get past me."

Kelsey laughed and flicked a piece of parsley over on his plate. "If you keep pestering me, I'll just feed you mushrooms from here on out."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on, you've gotta have it for the scrapbook!" Kelsey said, holding up her phone to take a picture of Ethan in front of the theater.

"No!" Ethan protested.

"Don't be a brat, come on. You said you haven't been here in years!"

"People are gonna start staring! You think I don't have enough pictures of me?"

"Oh, I don't doubt it," Kelsey drawled. "If you'd shut up, it would be over with."

He'd acted to strange about coming to the theater; as if he was scared to go, but wanted to at the same time. 

Ethan sighed and gave two thumbs-up underneath the banner of the show they were going to.

She'd just snapped the picture when someone tapped her shoulder from behind.

"Would you like to get in it?" An older woman asked.

"Uh, no that—"

"She'd love to," Ethan called.

Kelsey frowned and went to stand beside him.

"Payback," he whispered, draping his arm around her.

Kelsey smiled just as the picture was taken and quickly retrieved her phone. As soon as the woman was out of earshot, Kelsey clutched the phone to her chest dramatically. "I finally got a picture of me and Ethan Glenn! What a glorious day!" She held it out to Ethan. "Would you sign the case for me?"

"You know what, Kelsey?" he scolded, but laughed instead of delivering a threat.

They stood in line to buy tickets to see a Russian ballet entitled, "The Beauty of Lebanon".

It wasn't either of their first choices, but it was the only thing playing at the time.

Kelsey was surprised that the theater was as crowded as it was.

The inside was clean and grand, not matching its outside appearance at all.

The floor was deep blue with a yellow pattern crisscrossing across it, and the ceiling arched into a dome with a floral painting and golden beams supporting it.

Kelsey glanced at Ethan and saw that he was gazing up at the artwork too, but there was a bend in his brow. Concern, maybe.

"You spent a lot of time here, didn't you?" Kelsey prompted.

It took a moment for Ethan to come back to reality and he said, "Yeah, I did. Five days a week for a year-and-a-half. I lived with one of my uncles here and finished high-school down the road."

The line moved up and they purchased their tickets.

After a while, whatever trepidation Ethan was feeling quickly fled and he talked excitedly about where each of the wings and dressing rooms were, how they would have exactly one minute and eight seconds to run backstage and get changed, and how he'd always fall asleep behind the props and no one could find him.

They slid into one of the middle rows and Kelsey asked questions about theater while they waited for the ballet to start, just to watch Ethan's animated hands fly around everywhere.

The lights dimmed and the first trills of the pit orchestra filled the auditorium.

"It gives me chills every time," Ethan whispered.

The music grew louder and the red velvet curtains parted.

It revealed a scene set in pale blue moonlight and a row of dancers perfectly frozen in position.

Subtitles played above the stage as the narrator spoke in Russian.

Though she'd never been into theater or ballet, Kelsey couldn't help but be mesmerized by its beauty.

The dancers moved across the stage with such fluid motions, that Kelsey wasn't sure if they were automatons on a gear or real people.

The chairs, however, weren't quite accommodating to a two-hour play, and Kelsey found herself getting restless.

Her hand drifted to her side as the orchestra began a dreary sonnet and she accidentally bumped into Ethan's.

She immediately jerked away and adjusted her position. The orchestra continued its song and Kelsey found her hand wandering back to the same spot, almost hoping that Ethan's was still there.

Her fingertips barely touched his skin and she went to pull away again, but Ethan caught her ring finger in between his.

Kelsey stared at the stage, her breath catching in her throat.

As if they were unsure, their fingers intertwined hesitantly, both of them pretending that they didn't notice.

They sat as far apart as possible, but were linked together with their hands in the middle. It was hardly romantic, but Kelsey's fingertips kept tingling every time she felt Ethan's muscles shift beneath her touch.

Soon the ballet ended and Kelsey pulled her hand away, clearing her throat, and reaching for her purse.

"So? What'd you think?" Ethan asked.

"It was amazing," Kelsey said, her cheeks still warm.

"Ballet isn't my thing, but to be here," Ethan's eyes glanced around the building for the millionth time, "Thanks, Kelsey. I needed this."

Kelsey smiled. "Any time, movie star."

~~~~~~~~~

The drive home was peaceful and cool, but Kelsey couldn't help but feel anxious. It was almost seven o'clock and she wasn't sure when Sandy would be back.

She giggled every time Ethan brought up the theater. He was like a little kid who had just come back from Disney Land, though she realized she'd been the same way about the restaurant they went to.

Finally, they pulled into the driveway and were greeted by Roadkill's barking.

"That reminds me," Kelsey said, stepping out of the car, "I had something I wanted to give you."

"Sure."

Ethan followed her to the door. Kelsey slowed to a stop and turned to him before unlocking it.

"Hey, I just wanted to say that I had an amazing time today. Thank you."

He grinned. "Me too."

Kelsey opened the door and took two steps inside before her entire body froze.

"What's—" Ethan stopped too.

Kelsey's hand slowly rose to her mouth.

Roadkill sat on top of Sandy's new leather couch, one cushion ripped to pieces and cotton strewn about the entire house.

Two lamps were broken and the coffee container had been knocked over, spilling all of the grinds across the floor and carpet.

Kelsey hadn't even gotten over her shock when a pair of headlights appeared in the driveway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed!

~What'd you think of Kelsey and Ethan's DATE???

~What will happen with Sandy when she sees her house in tatters?

~General thoughts on the chapter?

Thank you again for reading!  {also don't forget to comment, vote, and share!}