Title: I Love You Every Day
Author: SneetchesToo
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Ethan/Rox
Summary: Ethan's mom had always had a saying when it came to her relationship with his dad. She used to say "I love him every day of the week, but I don't always like him, that's for sure." He had never felt that statement to be truer than he did right now.
Author's Note: This is the sequel to "Never Letting Go" and it takes place roughly 3 months after that ended. I couldn't help myself once this ideas popped into my head, so here we have it. This is for Violet! I'm pretty sure she's the only person still reading anything that I write, so I dedicate this to her!
—
There were many days when Ethan enjoyed the fact that he got to work alongside his girlfriend all day.
In fact, most days he appreciated that they got to spend eight to twelve hours by each other's side doing what they loved.
However, today was not one of them.
Not in the least bit.
Because as much as he loved Rox.
As much as he adored the woman who had spent the last three months as his girlfriend.
As much as he cherished her and one day hoped to make her truly his.
Today, he wanted to strangle her.
And he was pretty certain that she knew it too.
And to be honest, he was pretty certain, that at this point, she was just intentionally pushing every button that he had.
Because ever since he had climbed on the rig that morning, she had been at his throat.
Over. Every. Single. Thing.
And he was about to lose his ever loving mind.
"What is your problem?" He had finally had enough.
Absolutely enough.
They were supposed to be going to dinner with Emo that evening.
But he would be damned if he was going anywhere with this woman if she kept treating him like dirt.
He honestly didn't even know what had started it either.
Which made it 1000 times worse.
"My problem?! I'm not the one with the problem?!" He slammed his eyes shut at her words.
She was being ridiculous and he couldn't handle it anymore.
"Clearly you are!" He slammed the door to the rig shut and stopped in his tracks.
He had replayed every word that he had said to her in the past twenty-four hours and not a single one seemed to warrant this kind of behavior from her.
"I… I can't believe you!" She was shouting now, and he was pretty certain that the other paramedics in the bay didn't find their conversation as entertaining as she seemed too.
"Believe me?!" He let out a huff as she moved around to stand in front of him.
Even when angry as hell she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.
"You…" She was shaking she was so angry at him.
He knew he should have been scared of her. Or maybe scared for her. But instead he just thought it was downright adorable.
"What about me Rox?" He crossed his arms over his chest.
This was their first real fight in three months.
He figured that was probably a record.
So he knew that he should probably be thankful that things hadn't escalated before now.
"You think you can just walk around here like you own the place. Like you're Mr. Smooth or something. Like women should just fall at your feet and worship the ground you walk on." She was red faced and teary eyed and again, he knew he should be mad, but at this point he was just confused.
He had absolutely no idea what in the world she was talking about.
What place did he own? And who were all these women who were supposed to be worshiping him?
He had never met a woman who worshipped the ground he walked on.
Not even Rox.
And he certainly didn't expect it from anyone either.
"Can we go somewhere else and talk about this?" He let out a sigh when she stomped her foot against the concrete like a toddler.
In reality, he was hoping that she would just agree to go home with him.
Then he could just ravage her in bed until she forgot whatever it was that was driving her crazy for absolutely no reason at all.
"No!" He shook his head as one of the paramedics from the night shift let out a small chuckle from behind them.
He figured that guy had probably dealt with his fair share of temper tantrums in his day.
But at least his were appropriate, coming from his three year old twin daughters and all.
"Roxane." He growled out her full name, hoping that would do the trick. "You're making a scene."
"I don't care!" She stepped closer to him and he let out another sigh.
This woman was going to be the death of him.
"Well I do." He pushed himself away from the rig and walked around her, eyeing her softly as he stopped beside her. "I'm going home. You can come, or not, but I'm not gonna stand here and argue with you in front of all of these people."
And with that he walked away from her.
He heard her let out a frustrated growl and he just shook his head as he let the doors close behind him.
He may have loved Rox every day of the week.
But he sure as hell didn't like her all the time.
That was for sure.
—
He had gone home to an empty house. And he had regretfully showered alone. And then he had fallen into bed for a nap, all the while hoping that Rox would let herself in and come crawling into bed beside him.
But she never did.
And when he awoke from his nap at 5:15pm she was still nowhere in sight.
He let out a frustrated sigh as he pushed himself from the bed and made his way to the bathroom.
This was the first time she had never not "come home" to him.
In fact, they had spent 85 out of the past 90 nights together. Sometimes at her place, sometimes at his, but always, together.
He was hoping that she would at least come home with him tonight after dinner.
Or that she'd let him go home with her.
It had only been a few hours, and she was driving him insane, but he missed her nonetheless.
After changing and pulling on his boots he made his way downstairs, sighing when his father shot him a glance from the kitchen table.
He had really started enjoying having his dad around.
But he was kind of getting tired of coming downstairs at random hours of the day and finding the man just sitting in the house.
Ethan was sure that his dad was probably thankful that at least this time, the younger man had on clothes.
"Got a hot date tonight?" His dad didn't skip a beat, his eyes taking in the fact that Ethan seemed to have actually put on something other than jeans and a t-shirt for once.
"Rox and I are supposed to be taking Emo to dinner for her birthday." He grabbed his phone from its place on the counter and let out a sigh when he saw that there weren't any texts or missed calls from the woman in question.
"Supposed to be?" His father raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes at the look of confusion on the older man's face. "Trouble in paradise?"
"Apparently we're fighting." He shrugged his shoulders as he sent Rox a quick text.
Are we still on for dinner tonight? I can swing by and get you before we head to Emo's. He really hoped that she had forgotten about all this drama.
Because they were supposed to all be riding to dinner together.
And he knew that Emo would find it suspicious if they showed up separately.
"You are, are you?" The sarcasm dripping from his father's voice caused him to chuckle.
"Okay, so Rox is fighting." He leaned back against the counter and let out a huff. "I, however, am not. Yet."
"What is she fighting about?" He wished he knew the answer to his father's question.
"Hell if I know." He was really, really tired of this bullshit too.
"So she's angry at you and you don't know why?" Wasn't that normally the case though? Ethan felt like he should have anticipated this happening, especially with Rox.
As much as he loved her, she was as complicated as they came.
And while the past three months together had been amazing in more ways than he could count. It had also been stressful as hell.
Especially emotionally.
Mostly emotionally.
For both of them.
"Something about how I expect women to fall at my feet?" He shrugged his shoulders again as he pushed himself up off the counter and toward the refrigerator. "I don't really know to be honest with you."
"She's jealous." His dad pointed at him with a wary look and he stopped in his tracks.
"Jealous?" Now he really was confused. "What the fuck does she have to be jealous about?"
"I don't know." His dad mirrored his shrug from earlier before taking a sip of his coffee. "But that's what it sounds like."
"I don't know who she could possibly be jealous of." His head was starting to hurt from all this bullshit. "The only person I talk to is her. And you. Occasionally the folks at Angels. None of whom, she should be jealous of."
He was so done with this whole day. He just wanted to get his shift tomorrow over with and then enjoy his weekend off.
Preferably with Rox by his side.
Preferably somewhere far away from LA.
Preferably somewhere where clothing was optional.
"Don't ask me." He got ready to give a snappy comeback when his phone dinged in his hand.
He let out a sigh as he read Rox's text.
Fine. That was it. One word. One line.
He let out a growl as he threw his head backward.
This woman was going to be the death of him.
I'm leaving in five. He hit send as he shot his dad a look.
"Don't look at me." He let out a soft chuckle between his words. "She's your woman."
"Damn straight she is." And with that he took off in the direction of the front door.
She sure as hell was his woman.
And he was going to make damn sure that she realized that she was his only woman.
And that she had absolutely nothing to worry about.
—
He had picked Rox up from her place and she had climbed in the car without so much as a 'hello'.
They had driven to Emo's in silence.
And then they had driven to dinner, in even more silence.
He knew that Emo could tell that something was up. The woman wasn't stupid. She had to know that they were fighting.
They had made small talk at dinner, but again, Rox had avoided him at all costs. And they had barely made it through dessert before she started shooting daggers in his direction.
He honestly had no clue what was going on and he hated it.
He was normally so in tune with Rox and her needs.
Apparently something had gone terribly wrong over the past 48 hours.
After paying for their meal Ethan had followed the two outside and back into the confines of the car.
It was once again, eerily silent.
They were five minutes from Emo's house when she had apparently finally had enough.
"What the hell is going on with you two?" She asked from the back seat.
Ethan locked eyes with her in the rear-view mirror for a split second and he did his best to convey to her that he had no Earthly idea what the hell was going on.
"Nothing Emo." Rox whispered.
She looked downright exhausted and Ethan hated it.
He knew that she was beating herself up for whatever reason.
He just wanted her to open up to him and tell him what was going on.
"Nothing my ass." She spat back. "You two haven't spoken a single word to each other all night."
"We're fighting." Ethan rolled his eyes at Rox's words and let out a sigh.
"No Emo, we're not fighting." He was sure that Rox was going to climb across the front seat and strangle him right then and there. "Rox is fighting."
"Roxane!" He could hear the frustration in Emo's voice and it mirrored how he himself was feeling right about now.
"Please Emo." She let her head fall against the window as the fight left her body. "Leave it be. It is what it is."
"That's a whole lot of bullshit Roxane and you know it." Ethan pulled the car into Emo's driveway as she spoke and he honestly hoped that she would be able to talk some sense into his girlfriend's head. "What are you so angry about?"
"Yeah Rox," He knew he shouldn't poke the sleeping bear, but he couldn't help himself, "what are you so angry about?"
"We're not talking about this here." She spat back.
He could practically see the blood boiling in her veins.
They had struck a nerve.
"Why not?" He could feel his own blood starting to boil and he heard Emo let out a sigh from the backseat. "You didn't seem to have a problem yelling at me about it in front of everyone in the ambulance bay earlier."
If looks could kill, he would be a dead man.
"Screw you Ethan!" She threw the passenger side door open and exited the vehicle before he could get in another word.
He was so confused that he couldn't make sense of what was going on.
She was going to be the death of him if it was the last thing she did.
"I'll talk to her. Go home Ethan." Emo patted his shoulder gently and offered him a soft smile. "Thank you for dinner."
And then she was exiting the vehicle as well and he let out a sigh as he watched the older woman wrap an arm around Rox, escorting her up the steps of the house.
He waited a few minutes, hoping that Rox would come back out, and he got ready to put the car in reverse when she stepped out onto the porch.
There were tears in her eyes and he could tell she was tired.
He just wanted to take her home and wrap her up in his arms and never let her go.
"Want a ride home?" He asked softly as he rolled the window down.
She shook her head 'no' and he let out a sigh as she made her way toward him.
"I'm gonna stay here tonight." She whispered as she stopped beside the driver's side door.
"Okay." He nodded his head like he understood, but he didn't, not in the least bit. "Try and get some sleep tonight."
He reached his left hand out the window and chanced at cupping her cheek.
She leaned into his touch ever so slightly as she nodded her head.
"I'll see you tomorrow night." Her voice was so soft that he barely heard it and it broke his heart.
"I get off at 5:00pm." He let his thumb brush over her cheek, wiping her tears away gently as he offered her a soft smile. "Come over whenever."
She simply nodded her head as she swallowed.
He really, really hated how screwed up this whole thing had become.
"I love you." He whispered after a minute.
Her head snapped up and she blinked her eyes as another wave of tears hit her.
"I love you every day." He pulled her closer to him and leaned forward, pressing his lips against her forehead as she leaned down. "Even when I don't always like you."
She chuckled softly and he let his fingers tangle in her hair as he dragged her lips to his.
He was shocked when she kissed him back.
"I love you too." She whispered when she pulled away. "Even when I don't always like you either."
He offered her a soft smile as she stepped back from the vehicle, her hand squeezing his softly before she moved back up the steps.
She waved at him as he backed out the driveway and it took everything in him not to turn around and go back to her and drag her home with him.
Because as much as he didn't like her right now, he sure did love her a whole lot.
And he really just wanted to spend the night showing her just how much.
*Don't forget to comment!