stay // ethan nestor

t h r e e

Y / N

we pulled up next to a small café near the mall and ethan let out a shaky breath as he took his keys out the ignition. i placed my hand over his before he could leave the car.
"you okay?"
he stared at my hand for a few seconds before he registered my question and nodded.
"yeah."
i offered him a smile and we left the vehicle, i slung my bag over my shoulder and headed toward the building and ethan caught up, tugging the strap on my bag.
i turned to him, raising my eyebrows as if to say, 'what?'.
"you left your jacket." he handed me the adidas zip up and headed into the café, holding the door open for me.
"thanks." i smiled at him and stepped into small building, the strong smell of coffee filling my lungs as we sat in one of the booths and looked at the menu.
"do you want me to say your order?"
he shook his head and my heart leapt at his deep chuckle.
"i can do it myself."
i clutched my chest, feeling just like a proud parent and i wiped a single tear from my eye.
"you've grown up so much!"
"whatever, mom." he scoffed, rolling his eyes at my dramatic nature and gave his order to the waitress. i did the same and as soon as she was gone i rested my chin in my hands, gaining ethan's attention.
"so, what else have you learned?"
"well," his eyes lit up as he thought of something. "i know how to talk to people without it being awkward now. and i think i even flirted with a girl once, but i'm not sure she was impressed."
"girls are hard. you'll get the hang of it eventually." i encouraged and he gave me a sad smile and dismissed the topic. he'd always been a hopeless romantic and had usually asked me for advice. i remember the time he told me he had a crush on a girl he went to school with but he wouldn't tell me her name. he still won't to this day but it doesn't bug me too much. we were both hopelessly unable to fall in love.
our orders came and ethan tucked into his breakfast while i sipped on a mug of coffee. that was one of my flaws; i struggled to eat. especially in front of people. ethan i was perfectly fine with but when we were out in public i just couldn't do it. i sighed and squeezed my eyes shut as my stomach screamed for food.
i heard ethan sigh and opened my eyes to see him frowning at me.
"you need to eat. breakfast is the most important meal of the day." he stated, matter-of-factly. i began to protest and he shoved a croissant into my mouth and stared at me until i ate it, which i did, reluctantly. we left after i finished 'breakfast' and walked to the mall, hands linked together. we used to do it all the time when we were little and into our teenage years whenever ethan felt anxious or needed reassurance, so it was normal at this point. we wandered in and out of a few shops, i bought a few things, and we went into one of the little photo booths and took a couple of silly photos. ethan left me to go into a game store and i took the chance to buy him some things. i printed out one of my favorite pictures of us onto a keyring and found a cute plushie of a bear and bought him that as well.

heapass: where did you go?

you: i'm on my way out now.

i found ethan by the fountain, looking at his phone and smiling, quickly locking it as he noticed me and shoved it into his pocket.
"what were you looking at?"
"nothing." he quipped, grinning and sitting beside me on a bench.
"what did you get?" i asked to keep the conversation rolling. he grinned and pulled out the death of a bachelor album on vinyl.
"don't you already have like three different versions of that?"
"not the point. i didn't have the vinyl version."
i shook my head and pulled the keyring out of my bag, handing it to him. he laughed and hugged me, immediately attaching it to his car keys.
"how old is this photo anyway?" his arm was still around my shoulder as he held the photo.
"about four years old i think."
ethan's hair was a fresher blue in the photo, mine was also a pastel blue. it was a washout dye and i remember coming home from ethan's and my parents fumed but it was so worth it. i chuckled at the memory. we talked for hours and wandered around the mall before making it back to ethan's car as it started to rain.

i checked my emails to see if i had got anything back from the apartment but no such luck. i sighed and locked my phone, putting it back in my bag.
"what's wrong?" ethan asked as he started the car, checking behind him for traffic.
"oh, nothing. just checking if i had the apartment yet." i smiled and he nodded as we took of down the road back to marks place. i managed to doze off during the ride but woke up to ethan humming along to the radio. i stretched and looked over to ethan, who blushed and quickly turned his concentration back to the road.

i've caught him doing that a few times, looking at me while i've been distracted. i've never really known why he does it, but i've never asked either. he does it with other things as well, he'll just stare into space and i'll have to say his name a few times before he realises i've said anything. i laughed at his shyness and stretched, sitting normally in the seat.

"where are we?"
"um, i had to stop somewhere to pick something up but we're almost at marks. your phone made a noise while you were sleeping though." he rushed, stopping at a red light and leaning back in his seat, brushing his hair out of his face. i nodded and fished my phone out of my bag.
it was an email. i rapidly read through it and let out a squeal, receiving a concerned look from ethan.
"i got the apartment!" i yelled, giddily bouncing around in my seat. ethan grinned and clapped his hands together.
"congratulations!"
"could you by any chance make a detour so we can pick up the keys?"
"anything for you, m'lady."
i blushed at his comment and read out the address, and soon enough we were on route to the apartment block which wasn't too far from marks place thankfully. i rushed inside and got my keys, quickly returning to the vehicle.
"are you not gonna look around?"
"nope. i'm gonna buy some furniture first."
ethan nodded at my decision and we took off in the direction of marks house. when we parked in the driveway, i took ethan's keys from his hand and hooked my spare apartment key onto his keyring.
"just in case." i saw him grin out of the corner of my eye as i handed them back and exited the car.