𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 ( 𝑬𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑻𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒐)

𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓

They talk until they are both so tired that they can barley leave their eyes open, it has been sometime since Ethan had talked so much to someone he just met but there is just something about Willow that keeps the words flowing from his mouth.

Neither Willow nor Ethan want to end the conversation and retreat back into their rooms but at one point Willow blows out the candle next to her and motions for Ethan to do the same, the room now dark besides the moonlight coming from the stained glass windows.

"Sleep well", Willow smiles or at least Ethan thinks she is smiling, she has already walked into the direction of her own room that he has yet to see.

She hears him walk around his room, at around 3 a.m. and then later again at around 8 a.m.

Sleepwalker? Willow wonders but decides not to ask him about it, maybe he just needs time to adjust to his new environment.

When Willow is freshly showered and steps into the kitchen, Ethan is sitting on the black tiled floor and gently strokes Pip's furr.

"I need to go to work now, you can come with me and stay in the back or you can stay here", she offers kindly and he thinks for a minute.

"I'll rather stay if that's alright", he smiles shyly and Pip presses her head into his hand, demanding more cuddles from him.

"Of course it is, depending on how busy I am I'll close up early".

With a look outside she realises that it's raining again, England is truly living up to the cliche of bad weather in the summer.

"Help yourself to anything you'd like and don't hesitate to order any food I promise I am usually a much better host", she chuckles at the end, running a hand through her blonde hair.

Ethan shakes his head "You are a great host, I didn't announce myself beforehand so how were you supposed to know".

Leaving Ethan in the kitchen, still busy with Pip, Willow leaves for work taking one last look at the young man that she so freely let inside her house.

There is no doubt that this could be the perfect beginning of a horror movie, young naive woman lets a stranger stay in her house.

But somehow Willow trusts him, somewhere she read that people that are gentle with pets have a gentle soul and the way Ethan acts around Pip shows her that his soul has to be one of the most gentle ones.

Willow always handles the busy days in the café with ease, usually but today her mind is somewhere else and she whishes for Maeve to come back and help her with the various tasks that come with running a café on your own.

In a little break where she quickly hung up the sorry, we are closed sign in the window, she takes a stroll to the small supermarket to do her shopping.

Remembering to look for some black nail polish at boots, she also picks up some hygiene articles for Ethan.

With a yawn, the blonde girl locks the door of the café at the end of the day and makes a mental note to ask Maeve to call in another waitress to help her out tomorrow. There is no way of telling how busy the blue Mocha is going to be.

Exhausted from her day, she curses once she unlocks the door to her flat and immediately stumbles over Pip who had run to the door to greet her.

"She missed you", Ethan explains and points to Pip who is innocently rubbing her head on Willows leg.

Picking up the small cat, the girl motions Ethan to follow her into the kitchen where she places her tote bags on the table and unpacks the groceries.

Ethan offers to cook and when Willow halfheartedly tries to argue with him that she is the host and supposed to cook for him he shuts her up with the final argument that all he did that day was to sit around and she was busy on her feet, serving customers.

It is hard for Willow to just do nothing, sit crosse legged on the kitchen chair and let someone else do all the work for her.

Ethan is skilled, quickly chopping the ingredients he needs, keeping an eye on the boiling pasta and at the same time, also managing to keep up a conversation with Willow.

"You sure, you don't need my help?", she asks for the third time now and he shakes his head throwing a little tomato at her that she catches with her mouth, sticking out her tounge at him.

The way they act around each other resembles the way old friends spend their time, laughs escape both of their mouths when the pasta sauce boils over, Ethan was distracted for only a short moment when Pip demanded some cuddles from him.

Tomato sauce is now all over the kitchen counter and Ethans shirt.

Still giggling, Willow jumps off her chair and grabs a clean towel shooing Ethan out of the kitchen to chance into a clean shirt.

While he cleans himself up, she sets the table in the living room and opens the bottle of cheap white wine she grabbed from the store just when she is about to pour it into the glasses Ethan emerges back from Ada's room.

"You've got something on your face", Willow can't help but chuckle, watching Ethan blush and use his thumb to try and remove the sauce from his face.

"Did I get it?"

"No, wait let me", Willow motions for him to sit down and then leans over, gently she wipes the sauce, his skin is soft under her fingers. She can feel his breath on her skin, so close and she quickly leans back.

"I have something for you", changing the subject and reaching into the pocket of her sweater, taking out the fresh bottle of black nail polish handing it over to Ethan before she digs in to the food.

"Thank you so much", he looks genuinely surprised at her actions, giving him a present so little but yet so thoughtful means a lot to him.

Willow loves to see the smile on his face, maybe tonight he'll talk a little more about what keeps him up at night or the reason for his need to escape his life and hideaway here in Willow's flat.

Hi lovelies, my school and work started again so my updates are slow but I promise I have not forgotten this story :)