Title: Some Secrets
Author: SneetchesToo
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Ethan/Leanne
Summary: Ariel makes a shocking discovery. Jesse wants the details. Noa thinks Ethan's a bad liar. Campbell can't get the images out of his head. And Ethan and Leanne put on a show in Center Stage.
Author's Notes: This is Part 4 of the Second Act series. This literally takes place the day after Breaking the Rules. I wanted to do a piece where the others react to Ethan and Leanne's relationship being exposed. This is my attempt at doing that. This will be in 5 parts (Ariel, Jesse, Noa, Campbell, and Team Family).

When Leanne awoke the next morning her bed was empty, an instant sense of panic setting over her. She worried that Ethan had gotten scared after his inquiry about Ariel last night, but she was hoping that he wouldn't be worried enough to leave. Sighing to herself she figured it wasn't worth worrying over, knowing that he was just trying to keep things with the teen as simple as possible. After making a quick stop to the bathroom she found a pair of sweat pants on the dresser and pulled them on, running her fingers through her hair before pausing to look at herself in the mirror. She caught sight of the ugly red marks on her neck and collar bone, and decided that leaving her hair down was probably for the best, opting to also change her top to something with a little bit better coverage.

Making her way down the hall, she stopped and poked her head into Ariel's room, only to find her bed empty, the sound of the shower in the hallway becoming apparent. Smiling to herself, Leanne decided to head downstairs and make breakfast, knowing that the teen would feel much more awake after eating something. She quietly made her way downstairs, stopping in her tracks when she caught sight of Ethan standing in her kitchen, his jeans hanging low on his hips, his belt and t-shirt having been disregarded.

She choked back something, a sob perhaps, or maybe a squeal of shock, and it got his attention. He turned to face her, a smile forming on his lips, his hands sticking out to hand her the cup of coffee he had just poured. "Morning." He whispered, moving towards her when she made no effort to come closer. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." She swallowed, reaching forward to take the steaming cup from him and smiled when her hands brushed his. "I um, I wasn't expecting you to still be here." She cast her eyes downward, not wanting him to see the unshed tears forming there.

"Of course I'd still be here." He reached out, his hand cupping her cheek and lifting her head, smiling at her gently.

"It's just," She paused, moving to set the cup down, her hands reaching for his waist, "the bed was empty when I got up."

"Yeah," He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to her head, "I figured I'd get up and make breakfast for my girls." He kissed her head again, smiling when she tightened her grip around his chest.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes then, letting the sound of his heart beat relax her. The sound of the bathroom door opening upstairs startled her and she gently pulled back. "Does she know you're here yet?"

Ethan just shook his head, pressing a kiss to Leanne's temple before pulling himself free, moving to the fridge to grab the items he need for breakfast. "No. She was still asleep when I came down."

Leanne nodded, moving to retrieve her coffee cup from the island counter, choosing to sit on the other side instead. She always loved watching Ethan cook, a talent she discovered he hid from most everyone. After their first night together he had cooked her breakfast, or tried, they had quickly found a better use for his kitchen counter and had wound up eating three day old donuts on his couch instead. She loved the way he moved with ease around the counters, pulling the dishes that he needed from the cabinets and setting them down. He paused to check that he had everything he needed before turning on the stove and starting to crack the eggs.

The sound of stairs creaking brought Leanne back to reality and she froze, her heart stopping, afraid of the reaction they would receive when Ariel realized that it was Ethan cooking breakfast, and not her. However, the teen didn't seem to miss a beat.

"Morning." She called, grabbing a cup from the cabinet and pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"Morning." Ethan called over his shoulder, his bare shoulder, Leanne noted, and she took a sip of her coffee in hopes of hiding the blush that was creeping over her face. "How'd you sleep?" He asked, as if he had been making the kid breakfast her whole life, as if asking her about her sleeping habits was something he did on the regular.

"Fine." She reached around him and grabbed a piece of toast, taking a bite out of it as she made her way to the kitchen table, plopping down in one of the chairs. She pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket and quickly went to work on typing something, pausing to laugh at whatever response she received.

Ethan turned to Leanne and raised an eyebrow, causing Leanne to shrug. "Did you get all of your homework done sweetie?" Leanne asked, praying that the awkward phase of the morning had been avoided and that they could carry on like normal.

"Yeah." She took another bite of toast and looked up from her phone. "I feel asleep while reading for history though. I honestly don't know why Mr. Chewning expects us to be able to read 45 pages on the Civil War in one night."

Ethan chuckled, moving to scoop the now scrambled eggs out of the pan and onto a plate. He added a few slices of bacon before moving to the table, placing the dish in front of the teen. "History was always my favorite subject." He offered her a smile, moving to grab her a fork from one of the drawers. "It never changes, makes is easy to remember."

Ariel shrugged, digging into her eggs without another word. She ate in silence as Ethan returned to cooking, placing a similar plate in front of Leanne a few minutes later. He then served himself, moving to sit at the table with Ariel, nudging her arm when he noticed she was texting again, a pet peeve of his that he had yet to break her of. "No phones at the table." He muttered, taking a bite of his toast, motioning for a stunned Leanne to join him.

Setting the phone down she shrugged again, "Who's taking me to school? I noticed that neither one of your cars are in the drive." She took the last bite of her bacon, standing to place her plate in the sink.

Ethan and Leanne shared a look across the table and Leanne cleared her throat. "Why don't you take the bus today?" She offered, finishing off her toast and smiling at the teen.

Ariel sighed, "I hate the bus." She then made her way back upstairs, dragging her feet behind her as she went.

"Pick those feet up!" Ethan called after her, again, a habit he was hoping he would be able to break her of. When they could no longer hear her Ethan looked up from his plate and raised an eye brow. "How exactly are we getting to work today anyway?"

Leanne paused her eating to answer, "Cab?"

Ethan chuckled, standing to place his plate with Ariel's in the sink, dropping a kiss to Leanne's head as he passed her. "Funny."

Ariel chose that moment to appear in the kitchen doorway, her back pack slung over her shoulder. When she didn't say anything Ethan and Leanne both turned to look at her, stopping in their tracks when they noticed the serious expression on her face. "No but really," She stood up straighter, tightening her hold on the strap of her bag, "why aren't your cars here?"

Leanne choked on her coffee and dropped her head, hoping Ethan would have a save that would please the teen. "We took a cab home last night."

Ariel seemed satisfied with that answer and went to move, only to stop in her tracks, her face changing from that of acknowledgement to that of understanding. "Oh." She whispered, her hands falling to her sides. "Oh god." She moaned, gesturing between the two of them, her face turning pale. Ethan laughed, and Leanne thought that if there was ever a time where she wanted to smack that adorable smirk off his face this was it. "That's disgusting." The teen shook her head and leaned back against the door frame.

"Honey…" Leanne started to speak, but she couldn't find the right words, so she settled for standing, moving herself directly in front of the now unamused 14 year old.

Ethan picked that moment to speak and he offered Ariel a smile with his words. "We'd been trying to keep it under wraps," he motioned between him and Leanne, moving to stand next to her, "we didn't want it to make things weird."

"Weird…" Ariel crossed her arms across her chest, "this is so much more than weird."

Leanne sighed, her shoulders dropping, fearing the worst she decided to stay put in her spot, afraid of pushing the teen anymore. "Does this change things?" Leanne asked after a minute of standing in silence, her hand moving between her and Ethan as she spoke.

"No." Ariel dropped her arms. "I guess not." She shifted from foot to foot and cleared her throat, the awkwardness of the situation making her uncomfortable. "I always just assumed that you two were," she moved her hand back and forth between them before shuttering, "you know… I just figured you must've already been a couple when I came around. It didn't bother me. Out of sight, out of mind, kind of thing I guess." She moved to put her hands in her pockets before continuing. "But then you two never spent the night together. And I think I've maybe seen you kiss once," she paused again, resting her head against the door frame, "so I figured I had gotten it all wrong."

Ethan reached out, taking her hands in his and pulling her to stand upright. "You didn't get it wrong." He squeezed her hands and offered her a smile. "We just kept it away from you."

"We were trying to protect you." Leanne added, tilting her head to the side and offering Ariel a smile. "We figured this was for the best."

Ariel shrugged her shoulders and Ethan pulled her in for a hug, "We won't do anything you're not comfortable with." He whispered against her hair.

They stood in silence for a few moments, Ariel's arms tightening around Ethan after a few seconds. "It's okay with me." She whispered into his chest.

Ethan pulled back and offered her a smile, "You sure?"

Ariel turned to look at Leanne and nodded. "Yeah." She dropped her arms from around him and stepped back. "Just please, I'd rather be ignorant to what goes on in the bedroom." And with that she headed out of the door, leaving the two doctors to stare after her in silence, their mouths hanging open.

*Writing Ariel isn't as hard as I thought, and this chapter was totally a surprise to me but who doesn't love some Daddy!Ethan?!