5- Missing Protein Bars and a Messy Bathroom

*First Draft

****

"How many of these protein bars have you been eating?" Ethan asks incredulously while sifting through the food storage cabinets in the kitchen.

"I don't know. A few." I shrug, keeping my face hidden from him.

I'm not all that surprised that he noticed as he is annoyingly meticulous about everything. I've been stuck in this ship with him for a few days now, and the man gets pissy whenever something isn't exactly as he put it.

"A few? There are about ten missing."

"You said, 'help yourself', so I helped myself.  If you didn't mean it, you shouldn't have said it. Besides, why are you asking me how much I've eaten if you already know?"

"Well, you're like 5'2" and not even a hundred pounds and you're putting down at least two bars a day, that's 4,000 calories, more than twice what you need."

"So? They taste good." They taste like shit, but it is the best and easiest thing to give to Roman. I've managed to sneak water and food to him once or twice a day, whenever Ethan is hiding from me. Lately, though, Ethan's time cooped up in the cockpit has gotten shorter and shorter. It is only a matter of time before he catches me in the act.

"Seriously? You think these are good?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"You're going to blow up like a balloon. We should save them for emergencies."

"What do I care if I get fat? You're taking me to Hestia, I'll probably die anyway."

Normally, this is when Ethan would storm out of the room and tuck himself away in the cockpit. He hates it when I mention anything about returning home or the dire circumstances that await me with the GSA. Sometimes I bring it up just to get him to leave. 

But to my dismay, he stays.

"The GSA has a strict code of ethics that they follow. They don't torture pesky human women," Ethan reasons, with his arms crossed, and his body lazily leaning against the counter.

"Magna said they would."

"Has it ever occurred to you that Magna was lying?"

"Why would he lie about that?" Doubt pierces my chest. I know Magna kept things from me. A lot of things.

"I don't know. Why would he?" Ethan asks, raising his eyes in an exaggerated expression.

"He loved me and he wouldn't lie to me. What I do know is that the GSA will pay an asshole to drug a pesky woman's drink and kidnap her. Doesn't sound all that ethical, does it?" I snap.

Ethan pushes himself from the counter, and stands to his full height. "I can be a much bigger asshole to you than I have been," he says as he inches his way into my space. He tries to use his size to intimidate me and I hate it. Mostly, because it works.

My instincts tell me to shrink back, but I don't show him my weakness. Glaring up at him, I taunt, "I'm sure you can."

"God, you're infuriating." He closes the distance between us, puts his hands to my face, and smashes his lips against mine. Shocked, I try to push him away, but his kiss only deepens.

How did talking about me gaining my weight in energy bars lead to this? I want him off of me, I'm not into him at all.

His lips are moving on mine, but I'm not participating in his kiss. Roman. Roman can probably see everything. My gut twists, and I try to bring up my knee and get Ethan in the balls.

Before I can, Ethan pulls away with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. I swing my hand into his cheek with a loud smack.

Frustratingly, he doesn't even flinch. His face still holds that stupid half-smile that now is growing into a full-on grin.

"Don't touch me again!" I scream at him.

He laughs. "Come on. It wasn't so bad, was it? It's been a while for me. How about we go and fuck away some of this tension?"

"How about you go back into the cockpit and fuck yourself?" He gives me a look that tells me he's already been doing just that.

Gross.

This spacecraft is too cramped and there aren't many places I can go, but I manage to shove my way past him and lock myself in the bathroom.

I immediately brush my teeth.

When I finish, I examine my face in the mirror. My eyes are all fiery and my cheeks are flushed. I look crazy.

"What are you doing?" Ethan calls.

"Washing your spit out of my mouth!" I holler back angrily.

Ethan laughs again. "It's only a matter of time before you start begging me for it."

"In your dreams," I mutter under my breath.

My head is pounding with rage. I have a strong desire to get back at him. Who does he think he is? To kiss me like that when I clearly didn't want him to and right where Roman could see.

I clench my hands and pound them into the counter. He drugged me, handcuffed me, and is about to sell me to be experimented on. Now, he wants to use my body because he's bored. Screw him!

If Ethan can cross my boundaries, then I'm going to cross his. Spitefully, I start rearranging the bathroom. While muttering hate words, I move the bottles from the shower to under the sink, the action chipping away at my fury. I mess with the towels so that they are all crooked and turn the toilet paper so that it rolls under rather than over. Next, I place his toothbrush on top of the toilet (still in its holder, though, so the bristles aren't touching anything gross. I'm not that vindictive.) With one final F you, I smudge the soap all over the bathroom mirror.

"Jade, come on out. I promise I won't touch you again."

He better not.

Surveying the damage, I can't help but feel better. Ethan's going to lose his shit when he sees it, and the thought makes me smile.

I exit the bathroom with a smile still plastered on my face. Ethan is leaning against the wall across from me with his arms folded. He looks at my demeanor and his eyes raise in suspicion.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

I shrug.

"Do you want to watch an Earth movie?" Huh?

"What? Why? Is this another ploy to get into my pants?"

"Maybe. Mostly, I'm bored and I want some companionship." His eyes dart away from me sheepishly. Damnit. He knows how to get under my skin.

"Only if we sit on opposite ends of the couch and you keep your hands off of me."

"Deal," he answers quickly. "I have to take care of Repellent for a second. Why don't you go and pick something out?"

Bile rises in my throat. Ethan is going to throw water on him again. He does this several times a day and I cringe each time.

Then there is the name. Whenever Ethan calls him "Repellent", I have a strong urge to correct him. Roman's name, however, feels like a secret only between us. So, I bite my tongue and try my best to ignore it.

I move to the maroon couch and grab the tablet.

It's scary how much I think about Roman. He barely speaks when I tend to him, but the way he softens when I touch him squeezes my pliable heart.

When we get to Hestia…

When we get to Hestia, Roman will probably be sent to the prisons of Carcer.

And I'll be…strapped to a gurney? Thrown into a lab cage? Who knows? There is something about me that they want. Magna could have told me but he didn't. He took it to his grave. Didn't he think that I deserved to know? He could be so selfish and so—

I take a deep breath.

It's hard to be angry at him.

He's gone, and when he died he took a piece of me with him.

"Did you pick something out?" Ethan interrupts my mental tirade and sits down on the the other side of the couch.

"No, you choose something," I say, shoving the device at him.

"You're in a mood," he observes.

"Yeah."

"Do you need any female products?"

My glare is murderous. Of course, Ethan would dismiss my feelings as female problems.

"Woah! Sorry!" Ethan says, holding one hand out in the air, while the other holds the tablet. "You were just in the bathroom for a long time, and you are in rare form at the moment."

"Maybe it's because some asshole kissed me without my permission."

"Sorry, I'll ask next time."

"Next time?" I ask incredulously.

He just smirks and starts scrolling through the tablet.

"How about Crucial Lies? I've been wanting to watch that one for a while."

Shrugging my shoulders, I say, "Whatever."

I haven't heard of this movie, but my mind at the moment isn't on entertainment. I'm clouded by an uncertain future.

The screen pulls down and the movie projects.

Guns start blazing, and it doesn't take me long to get immersed in the story.

"What does the guy with the mustache want with him?" I ask. "Shit. Why is he doing that? Run the other way! Oh…Turn it off, Houston!" My body turns rigid during the action and when the hero gets shot in the arm, I turn to Ethan, "How can he still run around with a bullet in him?"

Ethan's face is chilling and it makes me squirm a bit. "If I'd known you liked to talk through movies, I would have put on something I've already seen," he says with venom.

Oh. I bring my legs to my chest as I'm taken aback by his hostility.

Holding my tongue, I continue to watch the movie. I can feel the tension between us as we watch in total silence. Tears begin to prick my eyes. He is such an asshole, I was finally having fun for a moment and he ruined it.

"Shit," he mumbles, "I need to go to the bathroom."

Oh no. My stomach starts to feel queasy.  He pauses the movie and shuffles his way around the couch. I hold my breath as he enters the bathroom.

I expect him to scream or yell, but he doesn't. Waiting for his reaction is almost worse. There is a flush and the water turns on briefly. It feels like an eternity before he slowly turns the door handle.

I keep my gaze fixated on the paused screen in front of me. The camera is zoomed in on the hero's face, and his expression looks almost constipated. I would have laughed if I wasn't so terrified of Ethan's reaction.

Footsteps pound into the metal floor as he approaches.

Biting my lip, I keep my eyes averted from him.

"I see why it took you so long in the bathroom," he says calmly.

"Hmm," is all I answer.

"Look at me."

Slowly, I turn my head to face him. His voice is deceiving. Ethan looks anything but calm. His eyes are blazing and his lips are turned into a terrifying sneer. I'm going to be sick.

"Nothing to say?" he spits.

"I was pissed after you kissed me," I answer in a small voice. Then I curse myself for being so easily intimidated by him, but I've never had someone look at me the way Ethan is looking at me.

"I ought to handcuff you to the wall again. Would you want that?" he asks so coldly it makes the blood drain from my face.

I shake my head.

"No?"

"No, thank you."

"Out of kindness, I let you share my space, and you disrespected it. I should treat you like Repellent and throw water on you every few hours."

"No," I whisper.

"Get up."

When I don't move fast enough, Ethan storms toward me and grabs my arm, and yanks me up so forcefully that I yelp in pain.

What the hell is wrong with him? It was just a little mess.

He drags me to the bathroom and shoves me inside. I caress under my arm where it aches from his manhandling and I look at him in shock.

Ethan's face twists, and he reaches his hand toward me. I flinch away, petrified. Pausing, he holds his hand out for a moment before he pulls it back and combs through his hair.

"Clean it up!" he yells as he stomps off, leaving me alone and in tears.

He lost his shit alright. I knew he would, but that reaction was way outside my radar. I wipe my tears away and quickly work on cleaning up the mess. It doesn't take long, it is a small space and it was all surface-level things.

I take a deep breath as I exit, and when I don't see Ethan, I realize he probably locked himself back in the cockpit. Feeling emotionally drained, I look toward Roman. He has an unfathomable expression on his face as he stares at me. He heard and saw everything. My throat closes up as I head to the kitchen to grab him some water and another energy bar. Screw Ethan. Let him think I'm trying to get fat.

Roman's repellent energy barely bothers me anymore as I make my way toward him. We have developed a comfortable companionship between us over the last few days.

As part of our new routine, I lean down and stroke his face. His beard has grown a little thicker, but I still find him strangely handsome.

"Are you okay?" he asks in his low grumbly voice.

"I'm fine," I lie.

"Did he hurt you?" His eyes darken with the question.

"Not really. Let's not talk about it, okay?"

He stares intensely at me but doesn't say anything.

I bring the water to his lips–

Footsteps still me.

Oh, God.

Roman's eyes widen and then turn hard.

"Jade," my hand trembles like a tumbleweed while Ethan tries to speak to me, "listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have gone off like that…Jade? Where are you?"

I can barely breathe as I shrink closer to Roman. He won't look this way, he can't. I watch as Ethan checks the bathroom and then the storage closets. I place my head on Roman's chest and wrap my arms around his middle. His body is a stone fortress, and his heartbeat thunders against my ear.

Every part of me tremors as Ethan's footsteps slowly approach us.

"I see your feet. What the hell?" Ethan booms at me.

I turn my head toward Ethan, my arms still clutched around Roman's waist. Ethan's eyes are wild with fury, sweat is dripping from his brow, and he is looking down at my boots–

holding his gun.

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