E X P O S E D
C H A P T E R S I X
ETHAN'S warm hand on Andrea's bare leg did nothing to help her crying.
He kept driving, but he was ridden with an unimaginable guilt that urged him to pull over and help her and give her all the attention she needed. He didn't pull over, however; the sooner he got back to his apartment, the sooner he could get Andrea comfortable.
Ever so often he'd mumble "it's okay" or "we're nearly there", though he doubted it had an effect on her.
After a short, gloomy car ride, they arrived at Ethan's apartment building. Ethan exited his car and by now Andrea had calmed down ever so slightly- she stopped crying, but she stayed sat there, staring forward, her mind stuck on what had happened not long ago.
Ethan jogged over to the passenger side of the car, opening the door. When Andrea didn't move, he slowly wrapped his arms around her and she allowed him to help her out, her bag of things in hand.
"Come on," he murmured, leading her towards his apartment and to his bedroom, switching on the light there.
Ethan pulled back the covers of his king sized bed and let Andrea lay down.
"Do you wanna change?" he asked her.
"Yeah, please," she sniffled. "Can you get me my black hoodie?"
Ethan nodded, begin to search through Andrea's bag until he found black fabric. The girl had already removed her denim shorts and was taking off her crop top when Ethan handed her the hoodie. Once she had taken it from him, he quickly whipped around to give her privacy.
"Thank you, Ethan," she said once she was done, in a weak, shaky voice.
"I'm gonna go sleep on the couch, okay-"
"No, no, please stay here," she begged, reaching for his hand.
In truth, that was exactly as Ethan hoped would happen. He wanted to leave and let her get a good nights' sleep and respect her boundaries, but he also wanted to hold her and tell her it would be alright.
Suddenly, Andrea's phone chimed and Ethan watched her examine the screen. In a fraction of a second, his heartbeat rose so quickly, he probably should have passed out. Andrea had burst into tears again.
The boy rushed to her side, sitting on the bed and pulling her into his lap. Her face was buried into his chest and her tears soaked his sweater. Ethan rocked back and forth slightly, tears stinging his own eyes due to the trembling Andrea in his arms.
"What's wrong? Tell me," he cooed, moving one of his hands to stroke her soft hair.
"Veronica texted me," Andrea sobbed. "She said sorry."
"It's okay," Ethan muttered. "Do you wanna go back to the hotel? Maybe talk to her?"
"I nearly killed her tonight, E. I wanted to kill her. I nearly picked up a lamp and threw it at her-"
"But you didn't, bab-" he couldn't say it. Baby. He wanted to say it with every part of his being, but she was confused enough. She didn't need a word muddling up her thoughts more. "You didn't harm her. You stopped yourself, right? You were strong enough to do that."
"That wasn't the first time, though. I've tried to hurt my moms, Ethan. I hate having bipolar," she cried. Ethan only held her tighter. He hated seeing her like this. If he could take her pain, he would take it without a single moment of hesitation. The worst part was that he had no idea what to say to her, or how to calm her down. He never knew anyone who dealt with bipolar. Anxiety, yes, his own twin brother had it, but bipolar wasn't something Ethan understood too well.
"Tomorrow's a new day, we'll sort everything out, okay? For now you need to sleep," he whispered gently.
He was right; tomorrow was a fresh start and Andrea was incredibly tired. Having her disorder meant that she had to get plenty of sleep, and she couldn't remember the last time she had stayed up so late.
Andrea sobbed and sniffled into Ethan's hoodie for the next while, and the boy did nothing less than comfort her and try keep her calm by stroking her hair ever so gently and shushing ever so often. Eventually, her crying subsided and she was limp- she had cried herself to sleep in Ethan's arms.
