Summary to catch you up since I've been gone 3 months:

Francesca and Ethan are in a semi good place with each other; Francesca found out what he had been hiding, which was his sisters and dad in LA. They went house hunting, put an offer on a place. They are nearly finished with college for the year and are flying out to LA (very soon). 

I'd recommend giving the previous chapter a reread, I love you guys xx

Francesca's POV:

It's the first day of finals and I'm already tired. But today is done and I feel positive I've done okay. I'm my own worst critic, so the sooner I get home, the better. I might even run myself a bath.

Walking out of my lecture hall, I'm shocked when I see Ethan waiting for me, leant against the opposing wall.

"Pass me your bag, we're going places." He holds out his hand to take my bag, so I pass him it.

"It's not that heavy, but thank you." I then look at him suspiciously. "So, which places exactly are we going?"

"Well, that would ruin the surprise, now, wouldn't it?" He quips, and I smile, liking how he's in such a good mood.

"I was planning to pack my bag tonight, will I be home with time to do it?" I ask curiously, hoping to get some answers from him.

"Yeah, we'll be four hours tops. We need a little break from college anyway, it'll be nice." He says, and I smile, already happy with the surprise despite my dislike of them.

"Well, I appreciate it. This seems better than my original plans anyway." I say, slipping my hand in his, which he happily takes.

"And those were what exactly?" He asks.

I hesitate if I should admit my lousy plans, but I do anyway. "A nice bath, pajamas and a date with my bed if I'm being honest."

"Sounds steamy, should I be worried?" He jokes and I roll my eyes, grabbing my phone to turn on.

"If you're worried about my bed, don't be. I'm in need of a new mattress, but considering I'm moving out in nine days, there's simply no point." Knowing that I'm moving so soon is quite scary and surreal. I don't want to leave the place I basically call home, but at the same time, I am. I'm so ready to have a new start, a new place for new memories.

"Nine days and you and Lauren will be living with the crazy bunch. You do realize you've signed up for a summer of being around two four-year-old's every day?" Ethan asks with a laugh.

"Oh, babe, I know. I love the twins, though. Kurt is the double of your dad, he's the funniest little guy, and Stevie is my little bestie. She's already agreed to let me play hairdressers with her, in return she gets to do my makeup. I'm looking forward to it." I grin; it'll be an entertaining summer without a doubt. "Oh, and I think I promised Kurt the other morning that one night we can stay up really late and eat ice cream."

He laughs, shaking his head at me. "My siblings are going to love you more than me by the end of this summer."

"Hey, you said it, not me." I raise my hands in defense, and he pulls me into his side, pressing a kiss to the top of my head as we walk.

We walk out of the building into the crisp spring air, over to Ethan's parked car in a nearby parking space. He fishes the keys out of his pocket and hands me them before walking over to the passenger side, letting me drive as always.

"My playlist or yours?" Ethan asks, buckling himself in. "Scrap that, I need to update mine, we're going with yours."

"Ooh, yay, let's become depressed!" I joke, moving my seat forward. He deadpans and I let out a giggle as I adjust the mirrors.

The first song that comes on is 'Emerald Eyes' by Anson Seabra. I only blink in his direction before he changes it. Then plays 'Ocean Eyes' by Billie Eilish, and he bursts out laughing. "Do you have an obsession with eyes or something?"

"Hey, we went through a breakup! I was allowed to listen to these songs." I defend myself. "And to answer your question, yes, I like eyes. I once drew yours."

"You did what?" Ethan turns to me, in shock and awaiting answers. So, I decide now is the best time to start driving. "Do you think driving away from this will make me drop it? I'm in the car with you! So, when was this?"

"Ten seconds ago." I then turn the dial up on the stereo, smiling when Arctic Monkeys come on.

"And I thought we were in a relationship where we don't keep things from each other." He playfully scoffs.

"Oh, buddy, that's fresh coming from you." I retort, and he sheepishly smiles at me. "I'm not telling you."

"Please! I'll give you the best head you've ever received when we get home." He bargains, and although that sounds appealing, I won't budge. I don't want him to know how weird I am; a girl who drew a stranger's eyes after only meeting him for five minutes.

"You can't see it anyway, I ripped it." I mutter, still upset that I did. After tearing it from my sketch pad, I put it in my bag, but when I got home, I found out that his eyes, drawn from number eights, had ripped.

"Why?" He asks.

"Not on purpose." I assure him, giving him a smile. "Hey, maybe one day you'll let me paint you."

"I'd like that. But I still want to know when this was? Recent? Last week? Last month?" He continues to throw out different periods of time, and I smile, content in our little happy bubble.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you." I shake my head. "Wait, where am I even going? I'm driving and you haven't told me where to?"

"You're going in the right direction, keep on this road until you get to those far lights and take a left." He tells me and I nod. "Now, answer, I wanna know."

"September, it was around five minutes before you came to sit with me in the lecture hall." I admit, despite not wanting to embarrass myself. I'm holding him to his earlier bargain, though.

"That was... You had met me once. And you were having a panic attack." He speaks his thoughts out loud, and I laugh, nodding. "Now I want to see this picture."

"No can do, it's gone." A lie, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. It's stupid anyway, and ripped from the bottom. He doesn't need to see that.

He pouts, not happy with my answer, but when suddenly 'Ever Since New York' by Harry Styles starts to play, he smiles, forgetting all about my stupid drawing.

For the rest of the journey, he directs me on where to go instead of just telling me, which somewhat got on my nerves, but I understood he wanted to keep it all a secret. And when we get there, it only becomes more apparent why.

"You can pick whatever movie we watch, I won't complain at all. And then we're gonna grab some dinner. We deserve a second date, don't you think?" He asks, and I can't help the smile that reaches my eyes. He makes me so fucking happy.

"I love you so much, Ethan." I cup his cheek, turning in my seat towards him.

"I love you much more, my darling girl." He closes the gap between, kissing my lips softly. My eyes flutter shut, a little smile appearing as he starts to peck them in a playful manner before leaving little kisses on my face; my cheeks, my nose, my forehead.

"Okay, okay, don't take my makeup off." I mumble, pushing him back a little, only for him to kiss me on the lips again again, short and sweet before sitting back.

We finally get out of the car, walking through the parking lot towards the movie theater, and he fits his hand in mine, sending me a little grin as we walk. Only now do I realize he's not wearing his usual joggers and shorts, he's wearing some black jeans with a plain white t-shirt, along with his black jacket that he wears often.

"You look really good today." I note, complimenting his outfit.

"Does that mean I look shit every other day?" He retorts, and I playfully glare at him. "Wow, darling, I'm hurt, I really am."

"Just take the fucking compliment." I say before looking down at my own outfit, suddenly feeling conscious of it. "I wish you had told me we were going on a date, I don't exactly look like I am."

"You could wear nothing and it'd be perfect." He says before laughing at his own words. "That's not what I meant, but hey, I am right. You're very fucking perfect naked."

"I'm still not wearing suitable clothes for a date, though." I point out, yet grateful for his kind words. I never have dressed up to go to college classes, though today I did put some effort in by doing my makeup. I'm wearing black leggings, a cream Nirvana shirt that is tied up and my large black denim jacket.

"It's just a movie and some dinner, seriously, don't worry about how you look." He assures me before following it up. "You look perfect, my girl, and comfortable, which is a bonus since we're going to be sitting for the next two hours."

"That's true." I mumble, feeling a little better about it.

As a couple who have known each other for eight months, we've not really done anything like this. We keep to ourselves for the most part. At the early stages of our friendship, our thing was the garages, grabbing a pizza and being in the company of one another.

The most we did when we were finally together, was when we went to New York, a trip I will never forget. We went cake testing for our made up wedding that was supposed to take place in July, we saw the Rockerfeller tree and it began to snow. I don't need expensive wine, luxury, I just need loyalty and his company for a good time.

He said that he wanted to do it right this time, that we're going to go on dates and he's insistent on making this right. But, I like us. I like the comfort. I find watching a movie in bed, cuddled under a duvet while he tries to cop a feel, much more enjoyable than dates, however, surprises like this - dates like the one at the beach house - it's nice. It's a sweet surprise.

"Hey, spacey, where did you just go?" He squeezes my hand, and I grin. That nickname he calls me, it makes my heart flutter a little.

"I just love you." I admit.

"I love you much more, my girl, endlessly. Now, ladies first." He drops my hand to hold open the door to the movie theater. Immediately, the smell of buttered popcorn fills my nostrils and I smile as I walk in. "So, do you fancy anything you wanna watch?"

I take his hand once more. "There's this disaster movie that's showing, which looks good, but there's also a romcom I've wanted to see, although, I'm not sure if you'd want to watch it-"

"By now you really should know I love watching a good romance." He muses, and I grin up at him. "Let's get the tickets and some snacks, yeah?"

"Yeah, sounds good." I smile.

I've heard amazing reviews about the movie we've decided on, so I'm excited that I can watch it on the big screen instead of waiting for it to come out elsewhere. I'm the type of girl who plans on watching them in the movie theater but somehow leaves it too long, even if it's a movie I cannot wait to see.

There is a bit of a queue as we wait, but we're soon enough walking into the third theater on the left, holding our snacks; it's surprisingly busier than I expected, especially on a Wednesday afternoon. We make our way to our seats in the back row, and Ethan sits to the left of me. I get comfortable, taking my jacket off and draping it over my legs.

"Popcorn for my darling." He hands me the bucket we're definitely going to share. "Sprite." He reaches over, putting the cup in my arm rest. "And candy."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." I whisper, keeping my voice low. Even though the movie hasn't started yet, the advertisements have and I know many people enjoy them.

"I have a fight in less than a month, if Luke knew I was here eating candy and popcorn, as well as eating the food we'll eat for dinner, he'd kill me." He chuckles at the thought, putting another bit of popcorn in his mouth. "It's amusing."

"Mhm, sure it is." I drink through my straw, tasting the bubbles on my tongue. "Random question, but do you ever believe you were born in the wrong era?"

He cocks his head to the side and smirks at me, "Always. How about you?"

"I wish I was born in the seventies, or even the sixties. Mainly for the music, though." I say, and he nods with a low hum, agreeing with me. "But, again, there's something special about hearing music in the twenty-first century... people are still adoring creations decades old."

"That's the beauty of music, my girl, it never gets old, only becomes classic." He muses.

"I'm quoting that." I murmur, getting out my phone.

He scoffs. "You're not serious."

"Deadly." I open my notes app, typing down what he said before I forget it.

"Why?" He wonders, just as all the lights dim.

"I liked what you said, sue me." I shrug, turning my phone off before the movie starts, because we don't need distractions here.

At the beginning of the film which is set in the nineties, we meet two teens who are madly in love, who would do anything for each other, until one day the boy leaves the girl on senior prom night. Now, half an hour in, it's fifteen years later, the two long lost lovers find themselves at the same wedding, leading them to meet once again and tension is immediately in the air.

Ethan's hand has been on my thigh, under my jacket, for the entirety of the movie, a comforting gesture, and he only moves it whenever he needs a drink, so him lifting his hand and putting it back down on my thigh has become rather normal. That is until now, when he lays his hand much higher than before, causing butterflies to erupt in my lower belly, traveling right down to where his hand almost meets.

"Ethan." I whisper, warning him that he shouldn't start something we can't finish.

"Darling." He leans in closer to me, his breath on my neck causing goosebumps to arise. His fingers move callously in circles on my thigh, and now I realize; his actions were intended and on purpose.

Dirty thoughts start to filter through my mind; his fingers touching me, my legs spread, keeping quiet. Fuck.

I squirm in my seat and look up at him, seeing a slight smirk present in the darkness that consumes us. "What are you doing?"

"Watching the movie." His eyes now look towards the large screen for the first time in a while, despite the continuation of his taunting circles on the inside of my thigh. "Say the word and I'll stop in a heartbeat, darling."

"I thought you were 'watching the movie'?" I mock him in a hushed whisper, and he lowers his lips just above my ear.

"You're much more enticing, my love." Involuntarily, my body deceives me and my legs slightly part for him. "Needy girl."

"Shh." I self consciously look around but everyone's attention is on the movie present, not us in the back row.

He leans in close like before, moving my hair over my shoulder before his lips hover over my ear. "Do you want my fingers, Francesca?"

His words make me shiver. "Yes- Fuck, no, Ethan, we can't."

"We can, it's pretty simple really; you'll open your legs, let my hand into your panties, and you'll let me pleasure you like a little whore. We can do anything if you want it." His voice is so low, so sinister; it's turning me on. "So, I will ask again; do you want my fingers, Francesca?"

I look up at him before uttering the words, "Please."

"Good girl, spread your legs a little." When it comes to him, my actions lead with no thoughts, no hesitation. They always have.

His hand raises higher on my thigh, his thumb brushing right over where my clit is and I shudder, leaning over to his side. He applies pressure making me squirm, then starts circling over the clothed sensitive area and I take in a shallow breath in an attempt to calm myself, but it gets caught in my throat as a moan threatens to escape. I don't let it, though.

He continues, circling the pads of his middle and ring fingers over my clothed clit, sparking my body alight, warming me up in the best way.

I try to watch the film, distract myself from what is actually happening between Ethan and I, but the need to move my hips, the distraction from the clench of my core and pulse of my clit, and the overall need for him is hard to ignore.

Instead of telling him, I take his hand, stopping every source of pleasure I was receiving, but he understands what I need. He slips his right hand under the band of my leggings and my thong where I finally sigh in relief. His fingers run through my folds, collecting my arousal before he finds my clit once again, effortlessly, like he owns a map of my body and he's studied it endlessly.

His voice is low when he next speaks. "You're so filthy, my girl, letting me touch you like a slut in a movie theater. Fuck, you're perfect and all mine. Tell me, Francesca. Tell me you're all mine."

"I'm all yours."

It's true. I am all his, in every way possible. As long as he is mine, I will be his. Always.

"I want to taste you so bad, my girl, fucking starving for you." He's going to make me cum from his words alone if he doesn't shut up.

I'm on the road to an orgasm, one that's approaching quicker than usual; the frequent teasing from before, his filthy words and how turned on I am in this public setting all having a factor in that.

"I need you." I look up at him, pleading for more, though my voice is low, still cautious. "I need your fingers inside me."

"What else?" His fingers slowly move south, teasing me. "Tell me, don't be shy now."

Subconsciously I lift my hips when two of his fingers enter me and then I start to rock, my hormones and neediness getting the best of me. "I want your lips on my neck, kissing me."

"You do, do you? Don't you think me kissing you is too obvious? That it'll break our cover?" He taunts me, everything he's saying is testing me and he knows it.

"Please just kiss me, I don't care." I don't. Any second someone could turn around and see us, but that's fueling my desire for him, the possibility of getting caught in an act like this.

Ethan moves my hair over my shoulder again and then breathes over my neck, causing goosebumps to litter my skin, and he chuckles; I hear it. He knows that his simple actions affect me and they do, because it's him. His tongue trails across the part of my neck under my ear, teasing the area before his lips envelop into a kiss, making me weak at the knees.

I'm infatuated with him; he's mine and I am his.

His lips are on my neck, kissing and biting, turning me on. His fingers inside of me, pumping in and out, curling and teasing. My heavy breathing and low whispers between us. We're in our own little bubble, a safe place we create between us wherever we are, and I'm experiencing an act of pleasure in a public place, something so careless, but so... fucking enjoyable.

I can't make a noise. I can't kiss him, not like I want to. I have to fight the urge to straddle him, pull down his jeans and ride him to both our highs. But I can't, so I fight all urges and let my pleasure happen. I let him finger me while whispering filthy degradations, calling me a whore, a slut, desperate and needy, everything that I act like when I'm with him in a sexual nature.

I don't warn him when I'm close, he knows already, the way I clench around his fingers as the incoming waves grow stronger, so he flexes and curls them before thrusting hard and fast against my g-spot. Instantly my legs start to shake, the dam of my orgasm breaking and I grab onto his bicep, ducking my head into the crook of his shoulder to muffle any noise that may escape in my bliss.

"My good girl, you kept so quiet." He kisses the top of my head, sighing. He lets me catch my breath, settling down before he pulls his fingers out of my pants, my arousal coating them, and before I can offer my napkin, he takes them both into his mouth, sucking them clean. I just watch in awe. "Now go pee."

"But the movie." I begin to protest.

"You weren't complaining about the movie for the last ten minutes, go pee." He cocks his head towards the stairs and I sigh, taking my jacket from atop of my knees before I stand. He's right, I don't need a UTI, especially not during finals week and with our trip to LA in two days.

Once I've been to the bathroom, I join Ethan like nothing ever happened and we finish the rest of the movie in each other's embrace; it was perfect, the ending in fact made me teary eyed. Reality isn't like movies, it's why I like watching them, it brings me a sense of comfort. Though, I know my life will never be like the movie I just watched, nor do I want it to be, I know I'm comfortable with the movie I'm living, it's flawed but that's reality, it's not supposed to be sunshine and rainbows with a pot of gold at the end, reality will never be like that, not mine anyway.

Once we've exited the movies and we get in the car, Ethan tells me where we're going next, a diner not that far away. We listen to Stevie Nicks on the short journey, only two songs before we're then getting out again, his hand fitting back into mine, swinging them as we walk.

We instantly get seen to and directed to a small booth near the window, and we slide into both sides, so we're now opposite each other. Once the waitress leaves us with our menus, Ethan dashes me a smile and starts playing footsie with me.

"What's up with you today? You're in such a good mood. What've you done? Should I be worried?" I joke, leaning on the table, looking up at him.

He mirrors my actions, leaning on his elbows and smiles, "I'm just trying to enjoy some normality with you before we go to LA in two days."

"Talk to me. What are you so worried about when we go?" I take his hands, stroking my thumb over his knuckles.

"I'm worried my sisters will hate me, I hate flying, I'm scared to just be back in LA because that's where everything went wrong; I just..." He sighs, taking a second. "LA is just a lot, and I'm scared of the unknown, it's so scary and it makes me weak."

"You're not weak, not at all, you taking this step is so utterly strong of you, my love. I promise no one will ever see you as weak. I don't. I know you may think so of yourself, but you're not." I whisper, continuing to comfort him by stroking his knuckles. "So many times you've assured me about this, about how I feel, so here I am doing the same, because guess what?"

"Hmm?" He cracks a smile.

"We're in this together, so if you're feeling weak, I'm going to be strong for you, and vice versa, yes?" And that's what assures him, I think because he brings our joined hands up to his lips and kisses the knuckles of mine.

"I love you, my darling." He murmurs.

"I love you more, my love."

"Now, let's order. I'm thinking shakes and burgers." He grins, and I nod, agreeing. That sounds perfect.

He'll be okay; we have each other.

~~~~~

A/N

Well... long time no see, I hate myself for taking such a long break but I'm hopefully back.

I hope this chapter was okay, I've been slowly and gradually been writing this over a three month period, but there's some writing in this chapter that I actually really love, so I'm glad I can finally share it.

Life update: It's been three months and a lot has happened. I'm  an auntie again, I've been to three concerts, I've bought more concerts for this year (yes, I'm addicted to live music), I won a law suit which I had been fighting for ten years, I met all of my online friends. It was just perfect. It was a well needed break, however I hated being away from writing. I missed this so much. 

Writing is my life safe space, but taking this break has just been so amazing. I wasn't doing good mentally and my motivation was really low, but the last month has been the best of my life, so I hope I'm back? My exams start next week, so like, I'm not promising weekly updates, just something better. 

I love and miss you guys. 

Question of the chapter: Just talk, let me know what you're up to today, tell me everything, I've missed this. 

~ B