Title: Best Friend Like Her
Author: SneetchesToo
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Ethan/Rox; Ethan/Leanne friendship and mentions to Ethan/Leanne past relationship
Summary: Ethan needed some closure about what Rox had told him the other night. And he was thankful for a best-friend who was willing to give him just that.
Author's Note: Y'all should know by now that I'm a Willish shipper at heart, so this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.
—
Ethan's talk with Rox about having children had completely done him in.
Especially after he realized the severity of the situation at hand.
He had spent the rest of the night consoling her.
His arms staying wrapped around her at every chance they could.
And when she had tucked herself against his side and silently pleaded with him to just let her sleep, that's exactly what he had done.
And he had held her all night long.
His eyes staying open and his heart beating unsteadily.
He had finally extracted himself from her grasp around 4:00am and had showered and left without so much as word 'goodbye'.
He hoped that when she woke she understood that he had just needed to clear his head.
He had gone into work and immediately dug up her file.
And he had tucked himself into an abandoned corner of the hospital and had read it front to back multiple times.
Several surgeries. Hundreds of stitches and staples. Thousands of hours of therapy.
She had been a broken, bloody mess when they had found her. And apparently nothing much changed over the five months that they kept her at Angels.
His heart had stopped in his chest when his eyes caught sight of the name of the doctors and nurses who had taken care of her back then.
Leanne Rorish. Jesse Sallander. Ed Harbert.
All people he knew.
All people who knew her.
Two of whom knew them quite well in fact.
He had choked back a sob as he snuck her file back into it's place in a storage closet on the fourth floor.
And then he had sought out Leanne, his heart racing in his chest as he tried to find the words he needed to say.
—
He had found the woman in her office, the lights down low and a soft ballad he sort of recognized flowing from the speakers of her computer.
He hadn't even bothered to knock, instead, he had pushed his way through the door quietly before letting it shut behind him.
She didn't even look up from her paperwork before the words had left her mouth.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to come find me." She said softly.
Her eyes shifted up from the folder in front of her and she eyed him through the lenses of her glasses as he took careful steps toward her desk.
"You know why I'm here?" He could barely form words.
His heart hurt too badly to contemplate much of anything right now.
"I take it this is about Rox?" She set her pen down as she stood, making her way toward him.
"You knew?" He felt his breath hitch in his chest and he let his body fall back into the couch beside him. "You knew what that bastard did to her and you never told me?"
"It wasn't my place Ethan." She moved to sit on the table across from him, her hands twisting together in her lap. "She had to be the one to do it."
"I…" He closed his eyes as he felt his pulse start to race. "How…"
"I know Ethan." Her hands were soft as they landed on his knees.
He snapped his head up, his eyes opening wide as he eyed her softly.
The tone of her voice told him all that he needed to know.
That she was haunted by Rox's demons just as much as he was.
"She was just a kid." He had always known that Leanne thought the age difference between them was a bit odd, even if she didn't come right out and say it to either one of them. "What that bastard did to her Ethan, it was horrible."
"She never stood a chance did she?" He hated thinking about it, that he could have lost her before he even had her.
"Her only chance at survival was removing the fetus." She whispered. "We did what we could to repair her uterus, but there was so much damage…"
"She'll never have kids will she?" He felt his heart breaking in his chest.
Not just for him, but for her as well.
She may have acted like having kids now wasn't a big deal, but he knew that she was lying to him.
"I highly doubt it." Leanne's eyes had filled with tears and it made him hurt even more.
The fact that she still seemed to care so deeply for the both of them was something he was having a hard time coming to terms with.
He expected her to hate them both.
But she had been nothing but supportive instead.
"But there's still a chance?" He wasn't one to give up hope. Not if there was even a tiny chance that they could make it happen.
"Maybe with some intervention." She leaned back on the table, her hands wiping at her tears as she tried to gather her thoughts. "I don't know how safe it would be though."
He nodded his head at her words.
It was killing him the more and more real this became.
"I never really cared much about having kids before…" Sure he had mentioned it to Leanne when they had been together.
Sure he had pondered the idea of it.
But he knew what she had been through and he had never wanted to overstep his bounds.
But when Rox came along, well, the thought had simply blown him away.
He could just imagine her pregnant with his child. And he loved the idea of raising a house full of kids with her by his side.
"I know Ethan." She had always brushed off his comments about kids with an eye-roll, and he had learned eventually to stop bringing it up.
"Not that I don't love Ariel…" He didn't want her to think for a second that he didn't love their 'daughter' more than anything in this world.
The girl had become his whole life at one point, and even though he and Leanne were no longer together, and he didn't get to spend nearly as much time with her as he once had, she was still the most important person in his life other than Rox.
"I know you do Ethan." She patted his knee softly as she offered him a smile. "I've never once doubted that."
He let out a sigh at her words.
He was thankful that after everything they had been through that she knew that he still cared about them both.
That he would do anything for either one of them.
Leanne was his best-friend and Ariel was his child. He would give his life for them if he had too.
He hoped that neither one of them ever doubted that.
"I just…" He closed his eyes as he let his head fall back against the couch cushions. "I wanted that so badly for us. For Rox and I. I wanted a house full of children. I wanted it all."
He heard Leanne let out a soft sigh and when he opened his eyes he could see the trace of regret flash across her face.
It was gone in an instant though, and she was back to smiling at him and picking him up off the ground so to speak.
"I know Ethan." She offered him a curious look as she spoke and he wondered what wheels were turning inside that beautiful head of hers.
"What?" He dared to ask.
She could be pretty mischievous when she wanted to be.
He wondered if she knew something that he didn't.
"I could see you two with a house full of kids too." She chuckled slightly at the image that must have popped into her head. "Those kids would be hell on wheels."
"Those kids would be fucking adorable." He said softly, a small laugh leaving his lips as he let the thought take over.
Those kids would be beautiful with Rox's brown curls and his gray eyes.
They'd be determined and head-strong like her, but curious and sneaky like him.
They'd be in for the time of their lives if they were ever able to procreate.
"That they would." She whispered softly.
He let out a breath as he leaned forward, his hands reaching out to take hers softly.
"Thank you Lea." He whispered, his eyes locking with hers. "Thank you for taking such good care of her. Back then, and now. She's lucky to have you." He squeezed her hands as he spoke and he watched as her eyes filled with tears. "We both are."
"Oh hush." She tried to pull her hands free from his but he wouldn't let go.
Instead, he pulled himself into a standing position, tugging her up to do the same.
And then he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her against his chest with a soft sigh.
"I mean it Lea." He felt her arms tighten around his waist as she buried her face against his neck. It had been so long since he had held her like this. So long that he had almost forgotten how good it felt to have her in his arms. He dropped a soft kiss against her hair, his arms squeezing her tightly as he took a deep breath. "We'd both be lost without you."
"The feeling's mutual." She whispered, her lips pressing against his shoulder softly.
He knew that while things between them hadn't ended on the best of the terms, that she always had his back.
And he always had hers.
No matter what.
And he was incredibly thankful that she had Rox's back too.
He knew that whatever he and Rox faced together in their future, that Leanne would be there by their sides for it.
And he was incredibly lucky to have a best-friend like her.
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