Title: Coming Home
Author: SneetchesToo
Rating: Teen (mentions of mature topics but nothing graphic)
Pairing: Ethan/Rox
Summary: Rox finally knows where she belongs.
Author's Note: Nothing really.
Rox was so tired of fighting with Ethan.
She was tired of not being in his arms and not having him there to talk to.
She was tired of being alone.
And while she loved Emo and appreciated the woman's support the past few days, she just wanted to go home.
And home was Ethan's.
It had been for a while now, even before she had moved in.
And she prayed that it would be a long time to come.
Because no matter how much they fought or how distant they became, she had never felt as loved and at peace as she did with him.
Sighing to herself she made her way up the front porch steps, her hands shaking as she reached out to unlock the front door.
There weren't any signs that Ethan was home, his bike was gone from the driveway and the house was dark, but she figured that maybe that was for the best.
Once she was home and settled he'd probably have a harder time kicking her out.
Making her way inside, she stopped in her tracks when she heard footsteps in the hallway to her right, the sound of a yawn accompanying the movement.
"Dad, is that you?" Ariel's voice was soft and sleepy and Rox felt bad for probably waking the girl.
"No honey." She whispered, her eyes locking with the teen's as she stopped just inside the foyer. "Just me."
"Oh, hey Rox." The girl wiped at her eyes with her hand before letting out another yawn.
"Hi sweetie." Rox adjusted her bag on her shoulder and offered the girl a soft smile. "Did I wake you?"
Ariel shook her head back and forth before heading into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling a bottle of water out before turning back toward her.
"I've been studying." She looked exhausted and Rox figured her summer classes must be kicking her butt.
"Studying?" She was curious if the girl was nearing the end of her summer term.
Ethan had talked about going away for a few days once she was done with school and she had secretly been holding out hope for a getaway.
"I've got a big final coming up." The teen took a sip from the water after speaking and then she headed back down the hall.
"Oh." Rox figured the girl had abandoned her, but then she was returning to the small room, a stack of papers in her hand. "What for?"
She had been trying really hard to bond with the girl this summer, especially after her attack.
And they had slowly been making some progress.
Unfortunately, school wasn't one of those things that she could really help her with.
"It's a psychology course." She said softly, plopping down at the table. "It's really interesting, but I keep getting stuck on the same content."
She looked defeated and Rox felt bad.
Ariel had come a long way when it came to her education and she couldn't be more proud of the girl.
However, she often took things a little more seriously than she probably needed too.
She was almost seventeen, her senior year in high school quickly approaching, and while Rox knew that her education was important, she was also still just a kid at heart.
"Have you tried taking a break?" She had heard Ethan tell her that several times.
Apparently walking away from the content and coming back to it was supposed to help.
"No." She whispered. "I was hoping dad would be home soon so that we could watch a movie or something, but he's working late again."
She looked so sad and lost and Rox felt responsible.
If she and Ethan hadn't have fought he'd probably be here with his daughter right now.
In fact, they both would.
"I'm sorry he's out honey." She said softly, stepping toward the girl and rubbing her back gently. "It's my fault he's gone."
"You guys fought again didn't you?" She hated that the girl knew about their fights.
She had always hated it when her parents fought and it had always caused her great stress.
She couldn't imagine what it was like for Ariel to watch her dad fight with her and her own mother.
"Yeah we did." Rox dropped her bag to the floor before sitting in the chair next to Ariel's.
"He's been a bad place the past few days." The teen looked at her with a concerned look on her face. "Because of Robbie and everything."
"Yeah." She didn't really know much about what had happened, but she knew enough.
Enough to know that Ethan was a mess and that missing Robbie was really screwing with his head.
"Do you think you guys will make up soon?" There was a sense of hope in Ariel's voice and the twinkle in her eye made Rox smile.
"I hope so." She really, really hoped so.
She missed Ethan more than she could imagine she ever would.
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before Rox gently slapped her hands down on the table.
"Let's go." She gave Ariel a giant smile as she rose from her chair.
"Go where?" Ariel looked shocked and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Out." Rox headed for the door, pausing when she realized that the girl wasn't behind her.
"Out where?" The look on Ariel's face caused her to laugh again and she held her hands out toward her.
"Anywhere you wanna go." She watched as the girl slowly stood and made her way toward her, stopping in front of her. "The mall, the movies. We can get ice cream and sit on the beach. We can just drive for a bit if you want."
She knew the girl was going through a lot and she hoped that she could provide some sense of calm and peace for her.
"Seriously?" She looked so hopeful and there was a hint of excitement and wonder in her eyes. "Whatever I wanna do?"
Rox nodded her head excitedly and waited for the teen to respond.
"Can we get Chinese food?" She asked softly. "And sit on the beach?"
"Absolutely." Rox could totally go for some Chinese food, her breakfast from that morning long gone.
And she was never one to turn down a trip to the beach.
"Let me get my phone!" The teen scurried off down the fall, her bare feet shuffling as she went.
When she returned she had her phone in her hand, flip flops on her feet, and a hoodie draped over her arm.
"I'm gonna text dad and let him know we're going out." Rox simply nodded her head at the girl as they headed out of the house.
She locked the door behind them before making her way toward her car, Ariel hot on her heels.
—
After grabbing Chinese food from their favorite place the pair had headed down to the beach and parked the car before grabbing their food, a blanket, and some drinks, and making their way down toward the water.
They found a spot away from the other groups of people still lingering from the day and settled down, eating in silence for a bit, both lost in their own thoughts.
It was Ariel who broke the silence first and Rox did a double take at her question.
"Is it wrong of me to sometimes still wish my mom and dad were together?" She whispered.
Rox swallowed and took a deep breath, setting down her take-out container as she let the question roll around her in her head for a second.
"No honey, it's not." It most certainly wasn't wrong of her.
Rox had spent most of her childhood wishing her parents would get a divorce because then they'd stop fighting.
But then after it happened she had often wished that they would get back together and she could have a happy, normal family like everyone else.
She often wondered if she would have turned out different, better even, if her parents had given her a loving and stable household growing up.
"Don't get me wrong," The teen turned toward her as she spoke, "I love you, and Ed, and I'm glad that you guys are part of my life, but sometimes…" She swallowed and Rox could see the tears forming in her eyes as she turned back toward the water. "Sometimes I just wish they loved each other like they used too."
"I get that." She said softly, reaching out to pat her arm. "It's normal to feel that way."
"Is it?" Ariel turned back toward her, a tear rolling down her face. "I feel like such a baby."
"You're not a baby." Rox reached out and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against her side with a gentle sigh. "You're a young lady who misses her family being whole. It's more than normal love."
Ariel sniffled as she dropped her head to Rox's shoulder and she hugged the girl closer.
"I just want them to be happy." She whispered. "If you make dad happy, and Ed makes mom happy, then that's all that matters."
Rox couldn't help but chuckle softly at her words.
She prayed that she made Ethan happy because sometimes she wondered.
"That's all any of us want." She knew that Ed was crazy about Leanne and vice versa, she just hoped that it was enough to keep them afloat.
"Do you love dad?" She shouldn't have been shocked by the girl's question but she was.
"Of course I love him sweetie." She wondered if all of their recent fighting had the girl thinking otherwise.
She had never doubted her love for the man, but she sometimes wondered if he still loved her the way he used to.
"He really loves you." She whispered. "Like, a lot."
"I know." She whispered back.
Her heart was tight in her chest and she hated it.
She hated this uncertainty she was feeling in regards to their relationship.
"Are you guys gonna get married someday?" The teen asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know." She wished she knew where this was headed, but unfortunately, they could barely make it two days without fighting it seemed.
She doubted that was the healthy ground they needed in order to start a life together.
"Oh. Ok." She sounded almost disappointed as she reached out and grabbed another egg roll, picking at it slowly as they sat and listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.
Rox got ready to respond when Ariel's phone rang from it's spot on the blanket and the teen reached out to flip it over.
The word 'dad' stared back up at them and the girl quickly answered the phone, a small smile on her face as she did so.
Rox tried not to listen to their conversation but the next thing she knew Ariel was handing the phone to her with a smile.
"Dad wants to talk to you." She said softly.
"Okay." Taking the phone from the girl she swallowed, her hands shaking as she tried to calm her nerves. "Hello?"
She shouldn't be so nervous to talk to the man, and yet, she felt like a teenager.
"Hey." He sounded tired and she hoped that he wasn't working himself to death. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah." She hoped that he wasn't mad at her for taking the teen out on a school night. "We just had to get out for a bit. I hope it's okay."
She held her breath as she waited for a response, her eyes settling on Ariel's smiling face as she did so.
"Of course." He didn't sound upset in the least bit and she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Thanks for taking her. She's been stressing with school a lot lately."
"I noticed." She most certainly didn't want the teen to burn out before she even started her senior year.
"Are you gonna be at the house tonight?" She could hear the hesitation in his voice and she couldn't tell if it was good or bad.
"I don't know." She whispered back. "Am I?"
"You can stay." He said softly. "I'll be late though. Mario's out sick."
"That's fine." She would most certainly stay for the teen's sake if nothing else. "I'll stay so she's not alone."
Ariel rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.
She was perfectly capable of staying alone but Rox still didn't want it that way.
"Thank you." She heard him shuffle around on the other end and then there was a bunch of commotion. "I've gotta go. I'll see you girls in the morning."
"Okay." She didn't want to say goodbye all of a sudden. "Be safe."
"I will." And then the line went dead and she let out a sigh as she handed the phone back to the girl.
"It sounds like it's just us for a while longer." She hoped the girl didn't mind too much.
"Okay." She nodded her head as she moved to settle back against Rox's side, her head falling back to her shoulder with a gentle sigh. "Can I ask you something kind of, personal?"
"Sure." She wondered what was on the girl's mind, their conversation about her parents from earlier already more than Rox had bargained for.
"How old were you the first time you fell in love?" The question was as random as they came and Rox couldn't figure out how to respond at first.
"Um…" She knew she should tell the girl the truth, but it was kind of embarrassing if you asked her.
"I shouldn't have asked." She whispered. "I'm sorry."
"No! No it's okay sweetie." She didn't want the girl to think that she wasn't interested in talking to her about things because she was.
And as close as she and Leanne may have been, she knew that there were just some things you couldn't talk to your mother about.
"It's kind of embarrassing actually." She said with a soft laugh.
"Why's that?" Ariel looked up at her with curious eyes and she swallowed.
"Because I've never loved anyone before your father." She whispered back, a small smile on her face as she spoke.
Just saying those words out loud made her remember why it was that her relationship with Ethan was so incredibly special to begin with.
"Really?" The girl looked a little shocked and she nodded her head.
"Really." She hoped the girl didn't ask any questions beyond that, but she sensed that she was headed in that direction.
"Were you… you know, with other guys before dad?" The girl looked embarrassed about asking the question and she offered her what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
"Yes." She nodded her head as she reached out and pushed a piece of the girl's hair behind her ear. "I was with… a lot of guys, before your dad." She didn't know if she should be telling her this, but she was hoping the teen would learn from her mistakes. "I'm certainly not proud of that though."
"I've only ever had one boyfriend." She whispered into the night sky after a few minutes of silence. "Does that make me weird?"
Rox let out a soft chuckle that she instantly regretted when the girl turned to look at her funny.
"No baby, it doesn't make you weird." She most certainly hoped that she didn't think that about herself.
She was a great kid and she was beautiful and smart and funny.
Rox knew what was going through her head though, especially after that party she had been too.
She bet there were some girls saying some not so nice and pleasant things about her and it broke her heart.
"All of my friends have had sex already." She stated out of the blue and Rox swallowed at her words.
That was most certainly not what she expected to hear.
"Well…" She really didn't know how to respond.
She had been that girl in high school, the one who put out, the one that the guys called for a good time.
She knew what it was like to be that girl.
Not the good girl who had her head screwed on straight and made good choices.
"I mean, I've only ever dated Max. If you can call what we did as dating." She remembered Ethan telling her about what had happened with the sick boy and she had felt horrible for the girl. No teenager deserved to go through something like that. "But we obviously never, you know, did it."
"And there's nothing wrong with that honey." She hoped the girl didn't feel like there was.
She knew how it was to be a teenager, she knew that peer pressure was a bitch.
"How old were you when you had sex for the first time?" Rox could hear the hesitation in her voice and she contemplated making up a fairy tale answer for her.
But then she remembered that the girl wanted to hear things like they were.
And honestly, she deserved that much right now.
"By choice?" Ariel's head snapped toward her and her eyes got real big as she processed the question.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I shouldn't have asked."
"It's okay honey." Rox reached out and gripped her shoulder lightly, offering her a soft smile. "I was younger than you."
The teen blinked as she let it sink in.
"And I didn't want it to happen." She had never talked to anyone about this before, not even Ethan, and it was hard.
But, surprisingly, it wasn't as hard as she excepted.
"You were raped?" There was an understanding look in the girl's eyes and Rox nodded her head at her.
"I was fourteen." She whispered. "I went to a party and a boy, who I thought was my friend, took advantage of me. As did his friends."
"I'm so sorry Rox." Ariel reached out then, wrapping her arms around her neck tightly as she buried her face against her shoulder. "I didn't know."
"You had no way of knowing love." She wrapped her up tight, pressing a kiss to her head as she spoke softly to her. "But it's okay. It was a long time ago and I'm okay now."
"I'm so scared that it's gonna happen again." The teen sobbed against her shoulder and she felt a piece of her heart break.
She had lived in absolute fear after her attack too and she remembered just how terrifying it was.
"I know baby." She pressed another kiss to her head before pulling back softly, cupping the girl's head gently in her hands. "But you can't let it control you or take over your life. You hear me?"
She simply nodded her head with a sniffle before tucking herself back into her arms.
"I mean it Ariel." She hugged her tightly, her words burning in her throat as tears streamed down her face. "I let what happened to me consume me and it destroyed me. Please don't let that happen to you. Please don't lose your innocence and your happiness because of this. Don't let it take that special piece of you away."
Ariel nodded her head once more as she sniffled, her arms tightening around Rox's torso once more.
"I love you Rox." The girl's words were like a semi-truck to the heart and she couldn't help but let out a soft sob as she pressed another kiss to her blonde locks. "Thank you for everything."
"I love you too sweetie." She had never imagined that she would ever bond with the girl like this and it made her heart swell at the idea that they may have gotten over any hurdles they had once had. "And you're welcome, for everything."
—
After their emotional chat on the beach they had finished up their dinner before heading back toward the car.
Ariel had fallen asleep on the way home and when they got to the house Rox had walked her inside with an arm around her shoulder.
The teen had showered quickly before collapsing in bed with a soft sigh, her eyes heavy and sleepy as Rox tucked her in like a small child.
She had then made her way upstairs and showered herself, pulling on one of Ethan's t-shirts and her underwear before crawling into bed and snuggling under the covers.
She had missed their big cozy bed and the pillows and sheets that smelled like him.
She must have dozed off almost immediately because the next thing she knew she was waking up to the sound of Ariel crawling into the bed beside her.
She had wrapped an arm around the girl and kissed her head before fading back off, her mind reeling after the events of that evening.
When she awoke a few hours later the girl had rolled onto her stomach and was breathing softly, her teddy bear tucked under her arm.
Rox thought she looked more like an almost seven year old than an almost seventeen year old, but she completely understood.
There was just something about cuddling a stuffed animal that made everything better.
She got ready to get up and head into the bathroom when the door to the small space opened and Ethan emerged, a pair of sweatpants hanging low on his hips, a towel in his hand as he scrubbed at the top of his head gently.
"Hey." He said softly, stepping into the room fully and turning off the bathroom light. "Did I wake you?"
She shook her head back and forth as she blinked at the sight before her.
"No." She whispered.
The sight of Ethan bare chested and sleepy was making her ache in all the wrong ways and she was silently cursing the girl for being there in that moment.
"Good." He moved toward the open side of the bed, tossing the towel into the hamper as he went. "She okay?"
He gestured in the direction of his sleeping daughter, a concerned look on his face.
"Yeah." At least Rox assumed she was. She still didn't know why she had crawled in bed with her earlier. "We… talked earlier. About some sensitive stuff. I think she might just be a little overwhelmed."
She shrugged her shoulders though because it was all just a guess at this point.
"Everything okay?" She knew that Ethan worried about the teen, and that was his right as her father, but sometimes he let his concerns go a little too far.
"Yeah." She didn't want to tell him what they had talked about unless Ariel was okay with it so she hoped that he didn't pry. "She's just got some stuff going on."
He nodded his head as he climbed into bed beside her, his arm reaching around her so that he could run his fingers down the girl's cheek.
"Yeah I know." Rox guessed that she may have talked to Ethan about what was plaguing her mind, they were just close like that. "She said she's been having some trouble with some friends or something like that."
"Something like that." Again, she wasn't going to give him any details though.
"Let me guess, she talked to you about the thing at the party? About how it's still bothering her?" But apparently Ethan knew more than she expected.
"Yeah." She let out a breath as she watched the teen stir a little, her brow crinkling in her sleep as she snuggled deeper under the covers. "I told her not to let this destroy her. I told her I know it's hard but that she couldn't let it break her. Not like I let it break me."
She would never be the same after what happened to her, of that Rox was certain, but she prayed that Ariel had the courage and the strength to use this to make her a better person, not a worse one.
"I hope she can get through this." He whispered, his fingers settling on the girl's chin before he moved to pull the blanket up over her shoulders. "She's been through so much, she just… she deserves a break."
"I know." She said softly, her hand reaching out to brush back some of the teen's hair. "She'll be okay Ethan. She's a lot stronger than I was at that age."
"Nonsense." He moved his hand to hers and pulled it toward him, dragging them both downward as he wrapped her up tightly, his other hand reaching down to pull the covers over them both. "You're the strongest person I know."
"Maybe now, but not back then." She whispered. "I didn't have the support system that she does, the family. I didn't have people who loved me like we love her. I had Emo, and while she loved me dearly, she was only one person."
"Well you know what they say?" He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. "It takes a village…"
She let out a soft laugh as she snuggled against his chest.
"Well she's got one hell of a village if you ask me." She was thankful that the girl had so many people who loved and adored her.
She knew it would make recovering and moving on that much easier.
"I'm glad you're home Roxane." He whispered against her head, his lips pressing a kiss to her brown locks. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you more." She whispered back, her lips pressing against his chest softly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me."
"It was my fault." He said softly. "I pushed you away. I regret it, terribly, I might add."
"Me too." She let her fingers find his dog tags and she let the metal rest in her palm as she took a few, slow breaths. "I love you."
"More today than you did yesterday?" He asked softly.
"And more tomorrow than I do right now." She replied quietly.
He chuckled softly before pressing another kiss to her head.
"Goodnight love." She felt him start to settle into sleep and she could hear his heart calming down as he did so.
"Goodnight babe." He pressed his lips to her temple and tucked her against his side tightly, and then he was out, his quiet snores filling the room almost immediately.
Rox blinked back a round of tears as she let the feeling of being here sink in.
This was where she belonged.
And no matter what happened, these were her people, and this was her home.
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