Unconditionally-Chapter 4

As he awoke, it took Ethan a few moments to adjust to his surroundings. Closing his eyes against the glaring of the sun streaming through the window, the events of the previous evening came flooding back to him. But instead of the gnawing sense of doubt he'd expected, all Ethan felt was relief. Relief at finally doing what was right for himself. Relief at being able to look himself in the mirror and not see a complete fraud staring back at him.

No more lies. He thought, rising out of bed and entering the room's adjoining bathroom to take a shower. No more wishing for one thing, but doing and accepting another.

As he stood underneath the shower's steady stream of hot water, Ethan considered the chaos that would surely ensue once news of the divorce came out. Rebecca would go ballistic, as would his mother. He and Gwen's mutual friends would give him the cold shoulder. Even Pilar would be disapproving. Despite this knowledge, he couldn't bring himself to regret his decision, and refused to change his mind.

Not everyone will hate you. He assured himself. And even if they do, at least you won't hate yourself any more.

Stepping out of the shower and wrapping himself in a towel, Ethan exited the bathroom only to realize that amidst all the night's drama, he had forgotten to get his clean clothes from the bedroom after he and Gwen's confrontation. He sighed, dreading having to go back to the room.

"It's either go back and face her, or walk around in this towel all day." He muttered. Double-checking that the towel was secure, he walked out into the hallway, thankful he had chosen a room not too far away. Quickly making his way down the hallway, he was grateful when he reached the room with no one having caught him the way he was. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. Waiting and receiving no response, Ethan raised his arm to

knock again when the door opened.

Gwen's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight standing before her. Ethan, clad in only a towel, a sheepish expression on his handsome face. A tiny thrill of hope spread through her.

He's come back to me. She thought. He loves me, and he realizes he's made a mistake.

"Ethan." She greeted. "What are you doing here…and why are you half-naked?

"Gwen, I'm sorry, but I-" Ethan began, only to be interrupted by Gwen throwing her arms around him, the force of the collision nearly knocking him down.

"I knew you'd come back! Of course I forgive you." She hugged him tightly. "I understand that Theresa made you act like you did. She's poison, Ethan. That's why we need to leave. We need to take Jane and go far, far away where Theresa can never hurt us again."

"No, Gwen. I won't have you talking about Theresa like that." Ethan gently extricated himself from her arms. "I'm sorry, I don't want to cause you any more pain, but you didn't let me finish what I was going to say." He sighed, hating the crestfallen look on her face. "I'm not here because I've changed my mind."

"Well then why are you here?"

This could get ugly. Ethan thought, taking a deep breath before answering.

"When I left last night, I forgot to get my clothes. I need to get them."

"Clothes?" Gwen responded incredulously. "You came for your clothes?" Her normally pale face began to turn red.

Yep. Definitely going to be ugly. He decided, nodding in response to her statements.

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

"Fine." Stalking over to the closet, Gwen began grabbing articles of clothing. "You want your clothes?" She fumed. "Here are you precious clothes!"

Ethan found himself being attacked by his wardrobe as his soon-to-be-ex-wife emptied

closets and drawers, sending shirts, pants, and all of his other clothing flying out of the door into the hallway.

"Gwen, stop it!" he protested, grabbing the suit she held in her hands, setting it aside. "I realize your hurting, but that's no reason to behave like a child."

"A child? Oh, so now I'm acting like a child? What, I'm not allowed to be angry, is that it? I'm just supposed to understand and accept that you're leaving me, and that you've given up on our marriage. Well let me tell you something, Mr. Winthrop. You don't get to tell me how to feel or act anymore! You think me throwing your clothes is childish! You're lucky I didn't take a pair of scissors and cut them into tiny little pieces!" Turning to walk back to the closet, she reemerged moments later, her arms loaded with shoes.

"My throwing the clothes in the hallway wasn't childish, Ethan." She informed him. Grabbing a pair of dress shoes, she took aim and hurled the loafers at his head, the element of surprise allowing them to hit their intended target. "This, is childish!"

"Ow! Christ, Gwen, what is wrong with you!" he asked. He realized as he began dodging the rest of his flying footwear that it had probably been the wrong question.

"I…trusted…you! I…thought…you…loved…me!" she yelled, punctuating her words with the tossing of another pair of shoes.

"Feeling better?" Ethan questioned once she'd run out of ammunition.

"Actually, yes. I'm not going to make things easy on you, Ethan. I'm going to fight you on this all the way. I'll box up all of your things and leave them in the hall for you. But unless you're coming to apologize and come back to me, I want you to stay away from me." Gwen

ordered coldly, slamming the door shut.

Taking a deep breath, Ethan began picking up his clothes, laying them in one neat pile.

"Wow." a soft voice stated from behind him. "It looks like a tornado swept through here."

Chuckling, he turned to see Theresa looking on with an amused smile.

"Yeah, Gwen and I had a little misunderstanding."

"So I heard. I guess it's a good thing the nanny took Little Ethan and Jane out to play earlier."

"Probably."

"That's actually why I came by. To let you know where Jane was." Theresa looked over Ethan with an appreciative eye. "Not that I'm not enjoying the view, but what exactly are you doing running around the mansion in nothing but a towel?" She questioned. "And what exactly happened to cause "Hurricane Gwen" to erupt?"

"Long story." Ethan sighed. "Realized a little late that I'd forgotten to get clothes. Gwen didn't take it well that I came back for the clothes instead of her."

"Ah…I see." Taking a closer look at his face, her eyes widened with concern at the bruising on his cheek. "What happened to your face?"

"Oh, that. It's nothing. I wasn't fast enough to dodge a pair of flying Italian loafers." He answered sheepishly.

"Ouch." Closing the gap between them, Theresa gently checked the area. With as close as they were, and fact that Ethan was half-naked, she found it hard to focus.

Ethan fought to even his heart rate. Keep cool. He told himself as Theresa continued her examination of his cheek.

"There doesn't seem to be any cuts. But still, that bruise is pretty bad. I'll go downstairs

and get you an ice pack while you pick this stuff up."

"Oh, um, thanks." He responded, sighing as he watched her head downstairs. It was hard to believe the effect a simple touch from her had on him. Even before Theresa, when all he'd known was Gwen, he'd never felt the same spark while kissing her as he did from just holding hands with Theresa. There was no comparison, he realized.

And you're the idiot who thought he could walk away. He chastised himself.

Finishing the cleaning up process, Ethan decided to go down and meet Theresa instead of waiting for her to come to him. He found her in the kitchen, putting the last of the ice cubes in an ice pack, twisting the cap back on.

"You know, you really don't have to do that. I'll be fine." He told her, leaning against the door frame."

Turning, Theresa gave him a look that brooked no argument, walking over and handing him the ice pack.

"It's not a big deal. Besides, it looks painful and this will reduce the swelling. We wouldn't want anything to mar that pretty little face of yours, now would we?" She teased.

"Pretty? Pretty? Theresa, you should know better than to call a man "pretty". We're rugged, or handsome, maybe even debonair, but never, ever, are we to be called pretty."

"Well excuse me, oh offended one." Theresa rolled her eyes amusedly, then looked back at him. "So…that must have been some misunderstanding for her to start throwing your shoes at you."

"Yeah. You could say that."

"You said you'd forgotten to pick up your clothes…does that mean what I think it means?"

"Depends on what you think it means." Ethan answered cryptically as he took a step closer to her.

"Well, considering the conversation, or I should say confrontation, Gwen and I had last night where she accused me of 'seducing you' away from her and swore that she would 'get you back', I think it means that you finally made a decision." She responded quietly, moving closer to him. "At least, that's what I hope it means."

Closing what little distance was left between them, Ethan smiled softly. He could feel her heart beating, pounding in the same rhythm as his.

"That's exactly what it means." He whispered, sitting the ice pack on the counter, lowering to look her in the eyes, their lips inches apart. The desire between the pair was palpable. "I finally know exactly what I want. And I'm willing to fight for it." With those words he captured her lips in a kiss that was full of heat and promise.

Theresa wound her arms around Ethan's neck, almost scared to believe that what was happening was real and not another one of her fantasies. That she wouldn't wake up and be back in her cold, lonely bed. But somehow, she knew that it was real, and that Fate had finally smiled upon her. A sense of peace washed over her.

Unfortunately, this peace was short-lived, as the moment was shattered by a shocked, furious voice uttering,

"Oh my God! What is going on here! Theresa, get your hands off of my son!"

Reluctantly pulling away, Ethan turned to face the intruder.

"Hello, Mother."