*Leanne pushed Ethan entirely too far.
They had arrived at the little Mexican restaurant a little after 7:00pm and Leanne had been nervous as to how Ariel would react when she was surprised with seeing all of their family there. The girl had been excited though, and she had cried as she hugged everyone tightly, the giant smile never leaving her face. After she had made her rounds she had hugged Leanne tighter than she thought possible and thanked her over and over again for doing all of this for her.
Then she had gone to Ethan, who had stayed in the background since they walked through the door, and she tucked herself against his side in the small booth he had sat down in, and there she stayed. Ethan had been quiet the whole ride over, his eyes slightly haunted and his hands trembling against his thighs. Leanne had been worried about how he would handle this, he had warned her after all, and when she got sight of how nervous he had been she wondered if she had made the right choice in forcing him to come along.
But seeing the smile on her daughter's face as she laughed with Ethan, Noa, and Angus about something, her head still resting against the older man's shoulder, she knew that this was where he belonged. Jesse had asked about him, about how he was doing, but Leanne had just told him that he was fine, jet lagged, but fine. She felt horrible for lying to her best friend but at this point she didn't even know what to say.
They had sat around and talked and laughed for a while before ordering their food, and Leanne had noticed that while Ethan was making small talk, he was still pretty much keeping to himself. She watched as he joked with Mario, but his smile didn't quite meet his eyes, and when Elliot asked about him about his time overseas he seemed to shut down completely. She watched as he quietly excused himself, saying that he needed to use the restroom, and walked out. She waited a few minutes, but when he didn't return when their food came fifteen minutes later, she knew something was wrong.
Where are you? She hit send on the text as she took her seat next to Jesse, digging into her enchiladas with no hesitation.
Just needed some air. She swallowed back a sob, she hated that he was feeling like this.
Food's here. Maybe that would entice him to come back in, he had been starving an hour ago and all.
Not hungry. Or maybe not. She let out a soft sigh as she took another bite, her eyes shifting to the front door. She knew she should go to him, this was partly her fault after all, but she figured he could wait until she ate.
After she had finished her food she stopped by Ariel's spot, dropping a kiss to her head as she whispered to the teen that she would be right back. She could feel Ariel's eyes following her as she made her way out the door, and she prayed that she didn't come after her. Making her way down the sidewalk she headed in the direction she had seen Ethan go earlier and when she found him sitting on the curb, his head in his hands, she felt like something inside of her was being choked out.
"Hey you." She whispered, making her way toward him slowly. The last thing she wanted to do was to spook him in such a public setting.
"Hey." He lifted his head enough to catch her eyes before he dropped it back down again, rubbing his hands over his face with a sigh. "Sorry, just got a little too, close, for me in there."
"It's okay." She said softly, moving to sit next to him. She reached out then, running her hand over his back. "You wanna come eat?"
He shook his head 'no' and let out another sigh. "Just, need some time."
She nodded her head at him, her fingers scratching lightly at his neck. She hoped that he wouldn't always 'need time' and that he could return to them as soon as possible. She had missed him and she wanted the old, loving, funny Ethan back.
"I think I'm gonna head home." He whispered and she felt a round of tears start to form in her eyes.
"Ethan… no, you can't." She knew that her words came out harsh, and she felt bad for getting mad at him. But she needed him here, wanted him here more than anything, and she knew that Ariel felt the same way.
"I…" He stood then, pushing away from her with a huff and she rose up to stand next to him. "I need to go…"
"You can't!" She shouted back, her face turning red with her words, her hands trembling as she crossed them over her chest.
"Leanne…" She could see him struggling to get his breaths even, his eyes going dark as he shifted them away from her. "You don't understand…"
"What is there to understand?!" She screamed at him, but she instantly regretted it because the next thing she knew Ariel was standing at the door, Mario behind her, and she felt horrible for ruining the girl's evening.
"Ethan…" Ariel moved to step forward but the look Ethan shot her told her not to come close, and she froze in her spot. Instead, Mario squeezed her shoulder, whispering something in her ear before opening the door for her once more. Leanne watched as she retreated back inside, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.
"Why don't I take you home Ethan?" Mario's question was soft and while Leanne appreciated his help, she really didn't want Ethan going anywhere.
"No Mario." She turned to glare at him, but there was something in his eyes that told her that she was better off backing down. "He's not going anywhere!" Yet, she couldn't help herself.
"Leanne…" He stepped forward then, putting himself between the two of them, and Leanne felt her heart sink.
"Fine!" She threw her hands in the air and stormed away from the two men, not daring to look back. She stopped off at the bathroom once she was back inside, splashing some cold water on her face in hopes of washing away tears. When she finally felt slightly better, she made her way back to their little group, all eyes going to her as she entered the room. She wanted to speak up, to tell them to stop staring and to mind their business, but instead she just took her seat next to Jesse once more.
"Everything okay?" He whispered softly, his eyes telling her that he knew exactly what was going on.
"No." She whispered back, and then she felt his hand take hers and she closed her eyes for a brief second. Sighing, she turned to him slightly, but Jesse just offered her a soft smile, his hand squeezing hers as he turned his attention back to the young girl sitting across from them. When Leanne looked up, Ariel refused to meet her eyes, and she knew right then and there that anything that could've gone wrong with today, was going wrong.
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