Ethan's POV:

If it weren't my friend's birthday today, I would never have come to this frat party. I was only going to stay an hour; to celebrate my friend, but I've stayed because of a certain green eyed, brunette.

As soon as Francesca walked through the door into the garden, I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I've not seen her wear anything other than sweats or jeans, so seeing her in a short-ish, white, sequin dress, all of the blood in my body went straight to my dick. I have never seen her this beautiful. She wasn't wearing makeup, she just looked so confident as she greeted her friends.

The guy she was getting all cuddly with didn't sit right with me, and I admit, I was kind of jealous by the way he could effortlessly pull her into him and her lay on his chest like they've been dating for years. It was weird and somewhat hard to see, but again I couldn't draw my eyes away from her.

I need to keep reminding myself that she is only my friend. My friend whom of which has made perfectly clear is staying single and has made no ounce of liking towards me.

She confuses me more than anyone has ever. I'm nearly twenty-one, and I've never come across such an enigma. She fires off so much sass, and I'm completely and utterly drawn to her. Usually girls come and go with me, I never let them stick around, but for the first time ever, I've wanted her to. Only this one doesn't want to, or she's putting up a hard fight.

There is something about her that captivates me, but I'm not going to be the one to cross the boundary. She has her guards way up, and she's been hurt in the past. When I heard about her ex-boyfriend, I wanted to cave his face in, but I know that will do no one no good. She talked about it like she was reading the newspaper; a casual topic, but when I looked in her eyes, I could clearly see the hurt he has caused. If I ever overstep, I'm just going to cause her more pain.

I'm a mess. I will only fuck her life up more. So, friendship is all this will ever be between us. I tease her, she comes back with a snarky or sarcastic reply. Conversation bounces between us like a pogo stick, and she's great company to have around, but whenever you involve romantic feelings, it always goes south.

I met her three weeks ago, and since meeting her, she's always in my mind. Waking up, drenched in sweat each morning is not the way I want to wake up. She's my friend. It's totally inappropriate to be having sex dreams about her.

She sends me so many mixed signals. We share moments, where I believe there could be something, but then the next minute she'll completely change her demeanor. I can't keep up with her.

So, friendship it is between us. I've never had a friend that is a girl before, but it's only a gender, so what really is the difference between one of the guys. Only I'm insanely attracted to her and her personality. Yeah, that.

As the night continued on, I hung out with some of the guys and drank a bit. I saw her at times through the night, one of them when she was out in the garden, I saw her through the kitchen window when I was grabbing a beer; she had a cig between her lips and her hair was blowing in the wind. I've not seen anything more attractive, and it's now engraved in my brain. The short yet effective dirty thought soon went away when I focused in on who she was with... Jack.

We've never really been friends, just mere acquaintances. All I know is that she's no good being around him. It's obvious she's close to him as well as that other guy, whatever he's called, but I feel uneasy as I watched them converse between one another.

I need to get my facts straight... I'm fucking jealous.

He could be the nicest guy in the planet and I'd still feel the urge to separate the two and warn him off.

The thing is though, I don't have a right to say or do that. She's not mine. She's her own self. But the urge is still there.

So, I went upstairs, took a piss and cooled myself off before going downstairs and grabbing the drink I went in there for in the first place.

Later into the night, Kieran left with Francesca's friend, Matt, which I didn't seem to be strange until it sunk into my brain, and I remembered Francesca telling me about his new hookup, which I now know is Kieran. They're a good match, I have to say.

Now, now it's past midnight and the party is still in the swing of things. But I know my time here is well and truly over, and I'm bored.

As soon as I'm about to make my exit, I see – only slightly – in the corner of my eye, Francesca on the stairs, not at all looking good. A guy holding her up as she runs her hands through his hair. She's totally out of it.

"For fuck sake." I mutter under my breath, climbing up there. "Francesca, come on, we're going to get you home."

Her head spins around real fast, her eyes red and dilated as she takes me in. Yeah, I'm not leaving her here like this with this dude. People like him, I hate with a vengeance.

"Ethan, baby, where've you been?" She pouts at me, and I glare at the guy that's holding her up. I ignore the feelings that she's caused by calling me baby, I usually hate that pet name but it sounds great coming from her.

"Jesus. I'm taking her with me and count yourself lucky that you're not on the floor right now." I spit out, picking her up and putting her over my shoulder.

"Ethan!" She exclaims, and I instantly steady her, pulling her dress down as much as possible so no one can see up it.

"Dude, come on, don't be a cock blocker. You know how it is." The guy slurs, and I press my lips together.

"Shut the fuck up and walk away." I bite out before making my way up the stairs. I know it's Tony's birthday, but he's more than likely hooking up tonight anyway and he always tells me and the guys that we can use his room whenever.

"Ethan, put me down." She slurs, and I sigh as I get to the top step, placing her down and wrapping my arms around her shoulders. "What?"

"You're sleeping up here for the night." I whisper, walking her down to his room. I just hope no one is using it as a hotel room.

When I get to the door, it's thankfully locked and I smile as I reach to the top of the door frame, grabbing the key that is kept up there. She doesn't complain as we walk through, and I lock the door behind me because I really am not up to having unwanted visitors. When I lived in this exact frat house, it was disgusting and I soon learnt to lock my door.

"Ethan why am I up here?" She asks like I hadn't just told her five seconds ago.

"To sleep." I say softly, sitting her down at the bottom of the bed.

"I don't want to sleep." She says, lying back on the bed as I go over to Tony's drawers. All of his clothes so neatly folded. I take out a pair of basketball shorts, and one of his shirts out before messing the rest up just to screw with him.  Happy birthday, mate.

"Yeah, well you need to. I'm going to go get some water for you, and you're going to get changed into these." I say, putting them down beside her. I know they're not my clothes to give out, but she's not sleeping in a sequined dress. I can't begin to imagine how uncomfortable that is.

As I'm about to leave to go get her a bottle of water, she says my name.

"Ethan... please don't go." She whispers.

"I'm coming back, just get changed and I'll be back." I say, hoping she does and the nod I get from her, assures me to a point.

Leaving her alone, I hope no one bothers her because I'll never forgive myself. As soon as I get into the kitchen, I grab an unopened bottle of water out of the cooler, and when I turn around, I immediately see the guy from before. Why are people so fucking twisted? This creep was going to have his way with her, and she is in now state to consent to anything. The thought makes me shiver.

"Well then, we're all dying to know, how was she?" He dares to speak, and before I can think, my knuckle collides with his jaw.

"If you don't have a death wish, I advise you to shut the fuck up!" I spit at him, the scum laid out on the floor. None of his "friends" helping him, just staring at me like I've grown two heads. "Go back to your party, nothing to see here."

I hate college.

Walking up the stairs, I expand my knuckle, feeling some pain but it's hardly broken. I hardly fucking hit him. Stupid dick.

Before walking into the bedroom, I knock on the door but when I get no response, I walk in and immediately cover my eyes when the first thing I see is her lying there, mostly naked.

Jesus Christ.

"Francesca, clothes. You need them on to sleep." I say, walking further in, my eyes squeezed shut.

"I don't wanna." She's now whining like a little child.

"Well for me to keep you company you need to be clothed, so please just put on a shirt." I say, and I hear her sigh before I hear some ruffling around. I turn around, dropping my arms by my side. Jesus, this girl will be the death of me.

I don't know why it took so long, but it was more than a minute until she told me to turn around and when I do, I stare at her in shock. What was the point in the shirt if it's almost completely see-through?

Okay, Ethan, you're being dramatic. It's not see-through, it's just very white and her very obvious piercings are showing. This girl doesn't ever fail to surprise me.  Avoiding eye contact with any kind of area, I take a seat on the bed and gently pass her the water bottle, but when I do, she catches my hand.

"What happened?" She slurs, and I smile at her. Still caring about me even when totally intoxicated. I feel honored.

"It's nothing. So, who was that guy?" I ask, wanting to know his name at least.

"Ugh Shawn, he's a dick." She shrugs, and I frown at her. "Oh, it's okay. We didn't do anything together just then; I wasn't going to. I don't like him."

A quick sense of relief washes over me before I realize that this Shawn guy was going to take advantage of her because she had no intention of sleeping with him. Well, now I'm glad I hit that bastard. I just wish I hit him harder.

"I slept with him once and ever since, he's been trying to get with me. I don't know why, he was horrible. And I'm not one to be mean or anything, but he was not good at all." She continues to ramble, and I tighten my fists. Yeah, I could have done without that information Francesca. Now I really want to hit him.

"What drugs have you taken?" I ask her gently, not really wanting to know the answer but by her behavior I can't really pinpoint it.

"Well, I thought it was cocaine, but I don't know now because I feel tired and strange. It was something Shawn had, and I was too drunk to really ask." She says, yawning soon after and I lift the bottle up her.

"Here, drink some more before you sleep." I urge, and she takes a small sip.

If I didn't hate Shawn before, I really hate him now. Who the fuck prays on a young girl who is already intoxicated, offers her drugs that she was misled to believe to be something else, and then had intentions to take advantage of her? Either way, he's a dickhead.

"Thank you for taking care of me, you don't have to." She whispers, sniffling slightly and I frown at her as she starts to weep.

"Don't thank me, I'm a decent guy. And I thought Francesca didn't cry? Am I still only an exception?" I ask, and she pouts up at me. "Come on, get into bed, I'll wait with you until you fall asleep."

"No, don't." She puts her hand around my wrist and I frown.

"No?" I ask.

"Don't go. Please don't leave me." She whispers and I sigh as I look at the emotional, tired and still very high, Francesca.

"Okay, okay, but get into bed because right now you don't exactly look comfortable." I say and she smiles, getting up and I immediately avert my eyes once again. "Okay, and you need pants on before you get into bed."

"You're a meany." She pouts, and I roll my eyes as she pathetically puts her legs into the shorts.

Francesca has never behaved this way and honestly, I'm enjoying this more than I really should but it is somewhat amusing. She's going to hate herself in the morning for this though, and I really hope she won't because everyone makes mistakes, especially at these stupid parties.

"Ethan, don't leave me." She mumbles, lying back on the pillow and I sigh as I pull the cover over her.

"I'm not going to, I promise." I whisper, turning the main light off before flicking on the lamp.

I climb into bed, keeping all of my clothes on which isn't comfy since I'm wearing jeans and a shirt, staying atop of the covers as I lay down next to her. She snuggles closer to me, and I hesitantly put my arm around her, her hair pretty much getting everywhere.

"Are you going to leave me like everyone does?" She mutters, her voice still slurring. The question leaves me wondering what really has this girl gone through.

"No, I'm not going anywhere." I say, moving her hair out of the way of her face and she sighs closing her eyes.

Silence passes between us, and every minute, I look down to check on her because I really don't know what drugs she was given. Cocaine certainly shouldn't make you feel tired, especially this tired and drowsy. I just hope she's okay.

~~~~~

A/N

Third update in one day, that's a new record and I'm so happy with how this went. I love writing in a second point of view to the protagonist because I get to explore another viewpoint of what's happening, and also Ethan is a baby and I love him.

I hope this is okay. I was really off about the whole drug usage thing because I know some don't like it, so I'm not making it massive or going into detail. I also don't want that for this book.

Life update: I got some Wi-Fi finally! I've been drinking a shit ton of water lately, and I'm doing really good mentally which is great!

I hope you're all doing good too and staying safe during this difficult time!

Question of the chapter:

What is your day-to-day quarantine life?

I wake up, eat some kind of cereal bar before going on my laptop. I watch Netflix before attempting to write. Whether I'm motivated or not, I will write for hours on end until I get hungry which is hardly ever lately but you know, a girl has got to eat so I do. Then I take a break and speak to friends throughout as well. I sometimes go shopping with my mum and sister but apart from that, I'm usually just sitting at home not really doing much at the minute. But writing and watching Netflix I do every day. It's bad really lol.

Thank you for reading! Please comment your thoughts, vote by pressing the little star, and if you want, you can follow me too. Xx

2525 words!

~B