𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐑; ethan landry

chapter three

CHAPTER THREE
"he missed her presence already."

THE SISTERS ARGUING was all a blur. Of course Juliet saw the liquid splashing over Sam's shirt, and the harsh words the Carpenter siblings threw at each other, and the hand holding hers the entire time - she just didn't register it in her brain until the following day. However, that night was yet to end.

"I wanna get changed," the girl said as the group of friends climbed the stairs in Sam, Tara, and Juliet's apartment block. She tugged on Ethan's hand, her head leaning against his shoulder as he looked down. She met his gaze, her doe eyes brightening in the dim lighting of the building as their friends continued to walk the stairs.

"Do you want me to take you?" He asked, his eyes trailing from hers to the departing people in front of them. She nodded with a small smile before resuming her walk, their friends only shooting them confused glances when they continued to walk past the Carpenters' room.

"Where are you going?" Mindy sassed with raised brows while Chad whistled behind her. They looked back, Ethan with red cheeks and Juliet with a cheerful smile.

"I'm gonna get changed, we'll be back in a minute," the girl said before dragging Ethan up the stairs, him sending the group one last look with wide eyes before he was tugged out of view.

As soon as she'd opened her door, she left the boy in the front room while she changed with her door closed. He sighed, eyeing the familiar apartment for a moment as he awkwardly stood in the doorway, before he eventually relaxed and removed the thick cardboard restricting his body. He leant it against the kitchen counter while he reached for a glass, filling it with water and sitting it on the bench. He stood beside it, back pressed against the edge of the counter, as he waited for her to reappear. He missed her presence already.

"Finally," he sighed with a smile as she peeled open her door. She grinned, rubbing her eyes to rid of her nagging tiredness as her mouth opened in a yawn. She had on his plaid pajama pants he'd left for her weeks ago, an old shirt of hers covering the top half of her pale body in the meantime. "I got this for you."

She blinked away her urge to sleep, opening her eyes to see the boy standing before her with a sweet smile, holding out the glass of water. She took it gratefully, looking up into his eyes with adoration. "Thanks, Dree."

"Dree?" Ethan asked with confusion, clutching his book tighter in his hand as it pressed against his thigh. He looked down at the girl as they walked through campus, the sun shining down on them through the gaps in the tree leaves.

"Yeah, you know, Landry . . . Dree. Dry sounds weird, Dree sounds . . . I don't know, sounds cute," Juliet reasoned as her eyes found the sky, shoes pushing against the bricked path weaving through the gardens of Blackmore University. 

You're cute, he wanted to say, but as she said, he was Ethan Landry. He was only the shy, dorky kid you ignored, not the confident boy who could truly speak his mind. So, he closed his lips and nodded with an innocent smile, trapping his heart's desires deep inside.

"Do you wanna go down to the others now?" He asked with a tilt of his head. She nodded, taking a sip of the water before spinning on her heel. She brought it with her, it clearing her foggy mind enough to read her thoughts, as her feet pounded against the carpeted staircase. He followed carefully behind her, moving in front of her to open the Carpenters' door before someone beat him to it. "Woah, who are you?"