Title: Candy Striper

Author: SneetchesToo

Rating: PG (there might be a bad word or two)

Pairing: mentions of potential Ethan/Leanne

Summary: Ariel not only looked ridiculous, but she felt ridiculous too. And she couldn't believe that Ethan was taking Leanne's side.

Author's Note: I got this idea based off the sneak peek for Wednesday's episode. I'm thinking of maybe working on some one-shots throughout the new season. This will be the first one.

Ariel couldn't believe that she had fallen for Leanne's trap. Come help out at the hospital. She had said. It'll be fun. She had said. But it had not been fun, nope, not at all. And on top of now having to be surrounded by adults all day, she had to wear this ridiculous outfit while doing it. She couldn't believe this.

"I look ridiculous." She mumbled under her breath, tugging on the ugly striped dress she wore.

"You look adorable." She heard Ethan's voice before she saw him, but she couldn't help rolling her eyes as the older man appeared in front of her, a stack of patient charts in his hands.

"I thought we were friends Ethan." She growled out. She would never understand why he was so insistent on teasing her. She liked the man, a lot, but his sense of humor often left something to be desired.

"We are." He said softly, leaning against the counter as he eyed her curiously. His gray eyes were soft and full of humor and while Ariel wanted to be mad at him, she couldn't help but not be.

"Then why are you on her side?" This had all been Leanne's fault and she couldn't believe that he was backing her up on it. Although, in hindsight, she really shouldn't be surprised. There wasn't much that Leanne did that Ethan didn't agree with.

"Because she happens to be right." He dropped his eyes to the chart in front of him, scribbling something down before handing it to the nurse behind the counter. He shifted his eyes toward her as she tried to think of a comeback.

"But…" Sadly, she couldn't find one.

"No. No buts." He leaned forward then, patting her arm lightly with his free hand. "You screwed up kid. Being forced to be a candy striper is the least of your worries."

"Ugh." She couldn't imagine what could've possibly been worse. She would much rather be at school for that matter. Or, better yet, she'd rather be at home staring at the TV all day.

"She could've sent you to military school." He whispered, bumping her softly with his shoulder before he started to walk away from her. She didn't want him to leave though, because if she looked like she was busy talking to him, she was less likely to get dragged off to clean up someone else's bodily fluids.

"Is that what your parents did?" She asked, following behind him. She caught up to him rather quickly and she couldn't help but notice the small smirk that came over his face. She wondered if he was on to her. It wouldn't be the first time that she had tried to be sneaky, only for him to foil her plans.

"They tried." He replied back, his eyes shifting toward her as he made his way into the break room. He held the door open for her and she was thankful that he wasn't trying to get rid of her just yet.

"What happened?" She knew that he hadn't actually been sent to military school. In fact, she knew a lot about him. A lot more than probably anyone at the hospital, including Leanne. The pair had gotten close over the past five months, and while she knew that Leanne was hoping that Ethan might help set her straight, he was in fact just becoming her partner in crime.

"I ran away." He said matter-of-factly, his hands dropping his stack of files on the counter as he reached for the coffee pot.

"Wasn't that the whole point?" She filed away that tidbit of information for the next time he fussed at her about running away from her problems. "To stop you from making dumb ass decisions?"

"Language ma'am." He shot back, his hands going to hand her the cup of coffee he had just poured. He quickly poured himself one before turning back to face her. "The whole point… is that this isn't about me, it's about you."

"Why is she doing this?" She huffed out. She still didn't understand Leanne's reasoning, I mean, weren't there plenty of other things she could be doing right now? Like sleeping for instance.

"Because she loves you." He pointed out, his eyes shifting to meet hers over the cup of coffee he held to his lips. "And because you can't just sit at home and do nothing all day. Your brain will turn to mush."

"Is that your best medical diagnosis?" She really was tired of his lame jokes right about now.

"Real funny kid." He muttered, taking a sip of his coffee as he eyed her sternly.

"Besides," Ariel let out another huff, her eyes doing their best to shoot daggers at the man across from her, "you're just taking her side because you want her to like you."

"Leanne already likes me thank you very much." He rolled his eyes at her words and Ariel was reminded yet again of just why she related to the older man so much. For someone with such charisma and character, he could be a real child when he wanted too.

"You just want her to agree to finally go on that date with you." Ariel figured she'd strike with a low blow. It's not like Ethan was immune to doing the same to her.

"Perhaps…" He took a deep breath and rolled his eyes again, "but that's beside the point."

"No the point is that you're just kissing her ass in hopes that she'll finally 'yes'." She placed her free hand on her hip as she spoke. She knew full and well about Ethan's attempts to get Leanne to go out with him over the past few months. And while she didn't think he was trying quite hard enough, she did think that Leanne was being kind of a pain in the ass to him. He was a great guy after all. If Ariel had to suffer with a man around the house all the time it might as well be a man she actually liked.

"She'll say 'yes'." He huffed out.

"You sound awfully certain of that." She knew that Leanne would give in eventually, if not for the sake of just getting Ethan to stop with all the ridiculousness.

"Because I know she will." He offered her a big smile then, his hands going out to gesture around himself. "Besides, who can resist this?"

"Oh God, please stop." She choked on the sip of coffee she had taken and eyed him warningly. The last thing she needed was to imagine the two of them doing anything close to unseemly.

Ethan was silent for a few minutes, his legs having moved him back toward the counter, where he leaned back against it. His eyes were soft as he eyed her over his coffee cup. It's not that she didn't like Ethan, because she really, truly did. And other than Leanne, he was really the only person around this place that she could stand. But he was often incredibly right about things that she wished he wasn't right about.

"She happens to have a good point though." He said softly, his quiet words breaking through the silence of the break room.

"What's that?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She didn't want to know what he was thinking in that big old goofy head of his.

"You need that principal on your side kid." Goddammit she hated it when he was right. "We've talked about this."

"But…" She knew they had talked about this, a lot. And not just her and Leanne either. Ethan had also done his best to drill home for her that she needed to get her act together or they would take her away, again. And as much as she didn't want to be a candy striper and clean up other people's puke, she didn't want to go back into the system more than that.

"Ariel, you know she's right." She let out a sigh as he stepped forward, leaving his coffee cup on the counter as he reached out to grip her shoulders gently in his hands.

"But do I have to wear this ridiculous outfit?" She said with a sigh. She knew that she had lost this battle, maybe she could at least petition for a better outfit. "I look like a cartoon character."

"The uniform's part of the job love." He said softly. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead and she felt all of the fight leave her body. She knew she was lucky to have Ethan in her life. She knew that if she left she'd never find someone like him again.

"But it's hideous." She growled. It really was the ugliest thing she had ever seen.

"Take that up with Jesse." He let out a chuckle as his spoke, his eyes soft and full of humor.

"Maybe I will." She spat back. She definitely had a few things she'd like to discuss with Jesse anyway, the uniform was certainly at the top of her list. She watched as Ethan returned to grab his folders off the counter, stepping past her and toward the door quietly. She expected him to leave without another word, but instead he stopped and turned to face her, his eyes shimmering in the dim light of the small room.

"Hey kid." He said softly, a small smile on his face as he spoke.

"Yeah Ethan?" She could only imagine what his parting words would be. No doubt something ridiculous and crude.

"Please behave yourself around here." He whispered. "I'm just getting used to you being around. It would kinda suck if you had to leave me." He offered her a wink and another cheerful smile, and then he was gone, his tall form disappearing on the other side of the doorway.

"Yeah yeah yeah." She called after him, her lips curling upward into a smile at his words. She definitely didn't want to leave him, or Leanne, so she guessed she would just have to suck it up at this point. She let out a soft sigh when she saw Jesse appear in the doorway, his eyebrow raised as he muttered something about looking everywhere for her. She simply smiled back before following him out the door and back out onto the busy hospital floor. Maybe she'd bring up the whole outfit thing later.

*Don't forget to comment!