Ethan hopped onto the Mercer porch and rang the doorbell. It was a little early, but Emma was always up by nine, even on weekends. He hoped Emma would answer the door this time. He really didn't want to get the run around from Laurel again. The door swung open and it wasn't Laurel that answered it, but it wasn't Emma either.
"Sutton," he stated.
"How did you know?"
"Emma doesn't look like a manipulative bitch," Ethan spat.
"Ouch," Sutton responded, feigning hurt, and closing the door behind her.
"Where is she, anyways? Did you finally throw her out for good?"
"Actually, she left. Came by the cabin last night and tossed the keys in my face. She's gone back to Vegas."
"She left?"
"I know, shocking right. After all of her talk about not being done with this family she just left. Sad, but there was nothing I could do to stop her."
"More like nothing you wanted to do. You've been stringing her along this whole time. My bet is she finally realized you were never going to give her what she wanted most."
"Maybe, but I guess she'll never find out what I was planning. Anyways, now that she's gone there's nothing stopping us from…picking up where we left off."
She took a step toward Ethan and tried to pull him into a kiss, but Ethan was prepared. He grabbed her arm and pushed her backward. She slammed into the front door, "Don't ever touch me again," Ethan ordered, getting right in her face, "I already told you my feelings for you are gone and they are never coming back. Whether Emma is here or not it doesn't change the fact that you will always be the same lying, secretive bitch you've always been."
Ethan hopped off of the porch, not letting her reply and slid onto his motorcycle. Emma had left without saying goodbye. It hurt, but he wasn't exactly surprised. He had hurt her and that was probably part of the reason why she left. He still wasn't giving up on her. He loved Emma. He always would. He just needed to prove it to her.
Mads slid through the photos on her iPad one more time. She smiled at the ones of Emma and glowered at the ones of Sutton. It was Sutton's fault Emma was gone. At first, Mads had been angry that Emma wanted to leave. She felt like she was abandoning them, but when she saw how much it hurt her to say goodbye, she couldn't stay angry. Emma was her friend and she hated to see her friends in pain.
She heard someone thump down the stairs and wasn't surprised it was Thayer. He smiled at her, "Emma texted me," he explained, "She made it to Vegas and even gave me her address. She promised to send me her new one when she got placed."
"She's really gone, isn't she?"
"Yeah," he stated, taking a seat next to his sister, "Are you okay with it?"
"I have to be. You saw how much pain she was in staying here. She promised to be there for us. Just because she's in a different state doesn't mean she's going back on that. I just wish things could've been different."
"Me too. She was a good friend."
"Are you're sure that's all you wanted her to be?"
"You know I'm in love with Sutton. I always will be. Emma is a good friend and I love her like I love you. I want to protect her, but I don't want to date her."
"Could've fooled me. You two were getting very close after her and Ethan broke up."
"She needed someone to talk to, but her heart belongs to Ethan. It always will. I told her a long time ago that she and Ethan were made for each other. I'm a good friend, that's all."
"If you say so. Now what are we going to do about Sutton?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think I could stand to be in the same room as her. She drove Emma away, she hasn't exactly been a good friend to me, and she has burned all of us too many times. I don't know if I can forgive her for everything she's done."
"You don't have to. You know I'll never be able to completely hate Sutton, but you get to walk away from her if you want. She did lie to you and she did try and seduce your boyfriend. I'm not going to say you have to let it go, but maybe there is more to this than we know."
"Until she decides to be completely honest with me, I can't be friends with her. It just hurts too much."
"Then don't. Mads it's up to you whether you forgive her or not, just like it's up to her whether she asks for it."
Thayer got up and headed back upstairs. He was a good brother and she was sorry for even thinking he was trying to screw over their father. She flipped to the last photo in the series. It was Emma and Thayer at the wedding. They were hugging each other as a brother and sister would. Apparently, Thayer was telling the truth. He loved her like a sister, but that was all. Then she saw something she never expected to see that suddenly answered a lot of her unspoken questions.
Laurel slowed the car to a stop outside of the one place she never expected to find herself. She closed the door to her car and walked up to the door of Ethan's trailer. It took him a minute but he answered and was probably as surprised to see her there, as she was to be there.
"Laurel? What are you doing here?"
"You have to fight for her," Laurel demanded.
"For who?"
"You know who," Laurel responded, "You still love her and she still loves you. You have to get her back."
"I thought you were the one who said I should accept that it was over."
"She was hurting. She didn't trust you. After everything she's done for me I wasn't going to force her to face you. She was the best sister I've ever had. I need you to get her back."
"What are you talking about?"
"I know," Laurel admitted.
"Know what?"
"I know about Emma."
