I felt like I was going to pass out. My eyes started getting blurry and I was having trouble staying upright. At some point Ethan had come up to me and grabbed my arm to keep me from falling out of the chair. He was crouched down and looking into my eyes, with a hint of concern hidden behind his. He didn’t know what was going on, and honestly, neither did I.
“Kelsey, can you hear me?” he kept repeating this over and over.
Finally I started feeling normal again. My vision was coming back slightly and I had stopped swaying. Unfortunately I was still out of sorts. I looked up to the ceiling and tried to block Ethan out, tried to pretend this wasn’t happening.
“Kelsey,” he said slowly. I didn’t meet his eye. “Kelsey, look at me,” he ordered. I still refused.
If Ethan had any sympathy for me before, it was gone now. He was getting angry, probably because he wanted to know what was going on. He took one even breath before grabbing both of my arms.
“Kelsey, look at me dammit!” he volume increase made me jump, but I finally met his gaze. That was a mistake for me. Once I made eye contact with him I lost it. The first tear fell and I started sobbing.
Through my tears I saw a look of confusion cross his face. He was dumbstruck and just sat there for a moment. I put my head in my hands and kept crying. I heard him let out an annoyed sigh and stand up. He grabbed my wrists and jerked me up from my seat. I gasped from surprise, but before I had time to react, Ethan put his arms around me.
At this point I was the one dumbstruck. I knew he was attempting to comfort me, but he seemed like he had never done it before. He was standing stiff and uncertain. I was so upset that I didn’t really care who was holding me, and I put my face in his chest. He let me cry it out before we moved. I was able to breathe normally and he walked me back to the room upstairs.
I sat down on the bed while Ethan closed the door and took a seat in the corner. He watched me for a moment before he said anything.
“What was that about?” he finally asked.
“You won’t be able to get me home for a while. My parents went on a business trip. They won’t be back for a month,” I was able to say this without crying.
He stared at me until it sunk in. He then stood and quickly, sending his chair flying backwards.
“Shit!” he tensed up and started pacing. He went over to one of the walls and punched it. I knew he hit it hard because I felt the force of the blow from the bed. I crawled up to the headboard and curled up in a ball. I was terrified.
He paced around the room and yelled out more profanities. He was getting more worked up after each second, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I decided the best thing for me to do was stay still and quiet. Ethan started to approach me finally before we heard someone come into the house, rather loudly. We waited and I heard a voice.
“Ethan, where the Hell are you?” the voice called out in the house. Ethan looked towards the door, and his breathing changed. He took slower, longer breaths until he was calmed down a little bit. He turned to me before he left.
“You are more trouble than you are worth.”
I just looked down at the bed until he left. I didn’t want to say or do anything to cause him to freak out again. I stayed sitting on the bed, but I still could hear some of the conversation.
Their greeting was hushed, but I could make out some words. I heard Ethan say something about a problem, and the other man laughed at him. The man told him to handle it and quit complaining. Then I assumed Ethan told him what the situation was with my parents, because they started getting loud again. The two were screaming over each other, so I stopped listening. I was trying to figure out my next move when I heard something crash downstairs. I jumped, and the last thing I heard from the man was him threatening Ethan.
“You better think of something. Don’t make me have to handle this,” then I think the man left the house, because I heard a door slam and a car start up. I went over to the window, but all I saw was the beat up car that I had been kidnapped in. It was leaving the driveway in a hurry.
As I was by the window, Ethan came in. I turned around and almost screamed. The crash I had heard must have been a beer bottle. It had been thrown at Ethan and hit his arm. His arm had broken glass in it and was bleeding. I slowly approached him and got a closer look. It had cut his skin, but he wouldn’t need any stiches. He stared ahead of him, not glancing at me until I said something.
“Do you have any alcohol or peroxide to clean that with?”
He gave me a sideways look and responded “We have plenty of alcohol.” He scowled at the ground.
The brownish colored glass that was sticking out of his arm wasn’t in the skin very deep, and could easily be picked out, even though there was a lot of it. I reached up and grabbed one of the big pieces out of his arm. He jerked his head towards me and I jumped, not wanting to make him mad.
“You need to get this cleaned up,” I stated.
He sighed and replied “we have some stuff in the bathroom. Let’s go.”
I followed him to the bathroom and he shut the door behind us. He sat down on the toilet and nodded towards the cabinets above the sink, letting me know that was where the supplies were kept. I looked through it and found a first aid kit, some peroxide, and pain pills. I looked back to where Ethan was sitting and saw that he had taken off his shirt. I tried to look away, but I couldn’t help but stare. His body was well toned, and I could clearly see his six-pack. His muscular arms were relaxed, but still defined. He looked up at me and smirked.
“Do you like the view?” he asked me, causing me to blush a bright red.
I turned back around and prepared the disinfectant, so he couldn’t see my face. I went over to him and started to pick the glass out. It seemed like he was out of it, like his mind was on other things. We were silent for a little while. I removed all of the glass and grabbed the disinfectant spray. Without warning I sprayed his arm.
“Ow, what the hell?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m just making sure you don’t get an infection.”
He looked away again and started thinking. I was going crazy from the quiet, and had so many questions.
“So, who is your partner?” I decided to ask him.
He gave me a weird look, before he understood what I meant. He sighed before he stated talking.
“We aren’t partners. I’m the one that does all of the dirty work. It’s always been like that with him,” he told me.
“Sounds like you have known him for a while.”
“Unfortunately, yes. And if it were possible to never have to deal with him again, I would gladly take that opportunity. I’ll never be able to get away from him though.”
“Why not?”
“He’s my dad. I have to help him out when things get tough.”
I was surprised to hear that the man was his father. After all the yelling and fighting I’ve heard from them, I thought they hated each other. The man didn’t seem very fatherly.
“Wait, your dad hit you with a beer bottle?” I couldn’t believe he would do that.
Ethan laughed bitterly. “He has a bad temper. It could have been worse.”
I just stared in disbelief. That would explain why Ethan was so hotheaded.
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