Title: Still Mad?

Author: SneetchesToo

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Ethan/Rox; mentions to past Ethan/Leanne

Summary: Ethan didn't exactly understand why Rox was so mad at him, but he just wanted to make it all better.

Author's Note: Nothing to report here. I have fudged with the canon aspect of Ethan and Leanne's relationship, so it'll probably start to come up as such in future chapters. Just a heads up.

—

Ethan had been beyond shocked when Rox had shown up at his place at a little after 9:00pm the night before.

He honestly hadn't expected her to come around again for quite some time.

Not after the way she had acted earlier.

Not after the way she had blown him off.

And certainly not after the way he had yelled at her.

He had never meant to get so aggressive, especially since he knew how much it scared her.

He knew all about her abusive past.

He should never have stooped so low as to scream at her.

But he had. And she had looked so scared and broken and he had just wanted to take her in his arms and make it all better.

She hadn't let him though. Not in that moment. And he had felt his heart break in two when she had slammed the door in his face.

But then she had shown up on his front porch a few hours later, her eyes full of tears, her hair a mess as she stood there in her pajamas silently begging him to let her in.

He hadn't been able to tell her 'no' and in typical fashion for them both they had wound up naked on the couch within a matter of minutes.

He had done his best to convince her that having sex probably wasn't in her best interest.

That she could very easily wind up with the flu just like him.

But then she had had her hands in his hair and her tongue was running along his lips and he had been helpless to stop her.

So instead they had had sex right there on the couch. Twice. Before he had dragged his exhausted body, and hers, up the stairs and into the shower.

They had collapsed into bed a few minutes later, him in nothing but his pajama bottoms, her in nothing but his t-shirt, and they were both asleep before he had even gotten a chance to tell her 'goodnight'.

—

When Ethan awoke a few hours later Rox was snuggled up next to him, her head buried in the crook of his neck, her arm draped lazily over his chest.

He could tell she was awake because her fingers were tracing lightly over the raised letters of his dog-tags.

He knew she was anxious. Her fidgeting with the metal objects resting on his bare chest was her tell.

He dropped a kiss to her head as he tugged her closer to his side.

"You still mad at me?" He whispered his question into the darkness of the room and he hoped that he didn't upset her.

"No." She whispered back.

He was glad to hear that.

He had missed her so much the past few days.

"You still jealous?" He was curious to see what her response to that question would be.

"I wasn't jealous." She said softly.

"I talked to Emo, Rox. I know exactly what happened." Emo had spared him no details when she had told him what was going on with Rox earlier that night. He knew exactly what was plaguing her mind. Even if she didn't. "You were jealous of Leanne being there to help me."

"I wasn't jealous." She repeated.

"Roxane..." He knew that she was trying to avoid confrontation, and that was fine. But he couldn't stand that she was lying to him.

"Look, I'm never gonna be able to compete with Leanne." Her words made his heart hurt. "I know that. I don't know why I try."

"Rox... it's not like that and you know that." And it wasn't like that. And it had never been like that.

Sure he still cared about Leanne. He would always care about her.

She was his best-friend. She was the mother of his "child". She was someone that he had spent 2.5 years of his life with.

But they weren't together. Not anymore. And they hadn't been for some time now.

And he didn't understand why it was such an issue for Rox that they were still friendly.

"You and Leanne..." She dragged out.

"Are friends Rox. That's it." He dropped another kiss to her head as he did his best to reassure her that her concerns were over nothing. "Yes, we have a history together. Yes, we care about each other. But we're not together and we're never going to be together again."

"You still love her. I'm not stupid." He let out a huff.

"She's my best friend Rox, of course I still love her." Leanne had once been his entire world, but she wasn't anymore, and he wished that Rox could see that. He wished that she could see that he didn't love her like that, not anymore. That she was the only one for him from here on out. "But you have to understand, we've been through a lot together. She was there for me during my darkest hours. I can't take that back and I wouldn't dare want too. But we're just friends."

"She's the mother of your child." Rox's words made him sigh. He didn't understand what her being Ariel's mother had to do with anything.

"She's Ariel's mother, yes, but that doesn't mean anything." It didn't change the way he saw their relationship. They were still friends and co-workers and they were doing their damnedest to co-parent their child in a way that made sense for them all. "We're not together Rox. You and I, however, are. And that's all that should matter to you right now."

"I just... it's..." He pulled away from her slightly then, offering her a soft look as he spoke.

"Weird? I get that. I respect that. But please don't let this get into your head. It's nothing okay. Nothing." Having Leanne around wasn't going to change. He was stuck with her being a part of his life, at least until Ariel was grown, but even then he knew he wouldn't be able to get rid of her that easily. And they worked together, quite well he might add. And her and Rox were friends too. It didn't make sense for him to just cut her off. "I was sick, I needed someone to help me and she was there. She would have done the same for you. It doesn't mean she's gonna run off with you and steal you away."

"I don't know... I..." She was going to that place in her head and it killed him.

He just wanted her to open up to him. To talk to him about things.

They could get through this. He just knew it.

"Rox look at me." He gripped her chin softly in his hands as he locked his eyes with hers. "I love you. And only you. For the rest of my life. And one day you're gonna have to come to terms with that."

"I can't be that woman." She whispered. "I can't be what you need Ethan."

"Yes you can Rox. You already are. You're perfect to me in all the ways that matter." And that was the goddamn truth if there ever was one. "Do you hear me? I love you and that is never going to change."

"You don't know what's been done to me. The things I've been through." She sobbed out. "You'll run away and hide when you find out. When you... you'll hate me for who I am."

"I could never hate you. And I could only love you more for anything that's plagued you." He knew there was a darkness in her past, something that haunted her day in and day out. It killed him to know that she had been through so much. "You hear me? You're mine and I'm yours and that's how it's gonna be from here on out. Do you understand?"

"I don't wanna lose you." She was full on sobbing at this point, her eyes full of tears as she kept her fingers wrapped tightly around the metal tags around his neck. "I don't want you to be disappointed in me."

"Never." She could never disappoint him. Ever. And he couldn't imagine a life without her in it. "I love you Rox. End of story."

"I love you too." She whispered back.

He watched as she closed her eyes against the tears, her fingers settling against his chest as she tucked herself back into his arms.

He wrapped her up as tightly as he possibly could and he dropped kiss after kiss against her head.

He would never get over how good it felt to have her in his arms.

And he would never get over how lucky he was to have her in his life.

He loved her, more than he ever loved anyone or anything else before.

And he was hellbent and determined to make her realize just how special she really was to him.

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