"It takes more than this to kick me down,"

"Ozzie, I swear to god if you don't let me go to Ethan I will kill you." Lia threatened, staring at the boy in front of her angrily.

Ozzie glanced behind her at Amanda and Cleo, who both seemed speechless. They all shared a look before the boy looked back at Lia. "Li, I can't."

"Why?" She glanced at the girls behind her before back at the boy, "That's in there happening because of me."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Amanda said, stepping forward. "You're not being serious are you?" She asked with a dry laugh. "That guy was trying to assault you! He's lucky I didn't beat his ass."

Lia sighed in anger, giving up against Ozzie's grip. His grip loosened only slightly at this, still holding on in case she tried to run back inside the frat house.

"Girl, take this-" Cleo held out a plastic shot cup, "It's okay."

Lia just shook her head, tears filling her eyes as she looked at Ozzie. "Ozzie he punched him," She spoke, defeated.

"I know," He said with a nod, before pulling her close to his chest. He held her like that, silent tears falling down her face as she let him.

She knew how strong Isaiah truly was, being the gym maniac he is. Ethan didn't stand a chance against the guy, and Lia knew it.

"Chad you can't just punch people like that!" The sound of Mindy calling after her brother caught the group's attention, and they all looked up to see Chad speed-walking out of the house. He held his hand in pain, kneading it lightly.

"It was a warning punch, Mindy," Chad answered her. "A warning to not fuck with us."

Behind Chad stood his sister, along with Anika, Tatum, Tara, and Ethan. Ethan held an ice pack to his eye, his eyes on the ground as he trailed behind Tara and Anika, standing next to Tatum.

"You're lucky we didn't get kicked out!" Mindy argued, "There was no reason to hit that dude."

"Oh there definitely was," Ethan responded.

At the sound of the boy's voice, Lia's head shot up from Ozzie's chest. She scrambled out of his grip, to which he didn't fight since they were all now outside. Her eyes were completely locked on the boy, who'd yet notice her heading his way. "Ethan," She softly said.

She stopped a couple of feet in front of him, touching her fingertips together as she watched him look up at her. He pulled the ice pack away from his eye, showing it was already beginning to bruise. Guilt ran through her body, knowing deep down that none of this would've happened if she just pushed Isaiah away. If she had just let Ethan go with her to the kitchen in the first place.

None of them would have gotten involved; Chad, Ozzie, Mindy, and most importantly Ethan.

Before Ethan could say anything to the girl, Chad found his way over to her. She tore her eyes away from the curly-headed boy, looking at him.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, okay?" He asked, touching her shoulder gently. "I don't know who he thought he was but he's not going to bother you anymore."

"Why'd you help?" She softly asked, the curiosity eating at her. "Like what made you interfere?"

"Well, considering Ethan was about to get his shit rocked-" He sent a playful smile to the other boy, "And I found out he was trying to mess with you."

"He's always trying to mess with me," She muttered.

Chad's smile fell, the boy standing straight. "Wait, this has happened before?"

"He's just someone who doesn't know how to let someone go," Lia said. "I'll just leave it at that."

"Well, if he ever bothers you again, you'll know where to find me. You can just tell Mindy or Tara, or even Ethan." He motioned to the boy, who just nodded in response. "I gave him a warning punch so he should be out of the picture."

"Thank you, Chad." Lia sent a sad smile to him, "I really appreciate it."

"Well uh homies gotta stick together, right?" He asked, tilting his head at her. She just let out a laugh, wiping her cheeks of the stray tears. "Alright, I'm gonna just-" He stopped, motioning between Ethan and his group of friends. "I'll be over there."

He then walked away to the others, who were all standing together now. Their attention was taken away from each other as mumbles started echoing around the giant front yard, everyone's eyes tearing to the front door where Isaiah stumbled out of the house. He was followed by some random party-goers, ones that looked angry. Whether it be for what he did to Lia or something else, they didn't know, but Ethan didn't hesitate to step in front of Lia.

His arm protectively went behind his back, pulling Lia closer to him. The girl winced slightly from the pressure of where she'd hit the counter twice but ignored it as she held onto the back of his jacket. She hadn't even realized he'd slipped it on, but it was probably sometime after Ozzie pulled her away the turmoil brewing in the kitchen.

Isaiah just stumbled away, mumbling incoherent insults to the people kicking him out of the party. His eyes then slid to Ethan and Lia, who only gripped each other tighter.

"Looks like I'm no longer wanted here," He said, motioning a hand to the house. "See you around, babydoll." His eyes stared right into Lia's soul, it felt, despite the fact that he was under the influence. He had blood running all down his face, some of it dried. Lia knew that this was from Chad's punch, considering blood littered all over his hand.

Ethan gripped the ice pack in his free hand, doing everything he could to fight the urge to throw it at the drunk guy. After all, he needed it much more than he did.

Isaiah finally looked away from Lia, who just rested her forehead against Ethan's back. This was embarrassing. Not only did she catch the attention of basically everyone attending the party, but she caused Ethan to get hurt. Nothing like this had ever happened in her life, even after she and Isaiah broke up. He'd of course done creepy stuff, but nothing like he'd done tonight.

They all watched as he stumbled down the street, leaving their view. With Isaiah gone and out of sight, someone rejoiced before the music began blaring again.

Ethan moved, glancing down at Lia who had just looked back at her friends. She watched as Joshua and Jonah got out of an Uber, paying them a tip before walking up to their friends.

"We miss anything interesting yet?"

++

Lia sat on the bathroom sink, a wet rag in her hand as she wiped at the small cut on Ethan's cheek. She'd only thought he had a black eye at first sight, but when she really began to get a good look at him, she realized one of Isaiah's rings must've cut his cheek when he punched him.

Ethan stood between her legs, still as a statue as he watched her. It broke his heart to see silent tears stream down her cheeks as she stared at his injuries. She felt extremely guilty, unable to say anything due to knowing she'd break out into sobs at any given moment.

"I'm okay, Lia." Ethan softly told the girl. He grabbed the hand that held the rag, pulling it away from his face. "It's just a small cut."

"But it's my fault," She couldn't help but cry out, tears beginning to stream quickly down her face. "You, Chad, nobody would have gotten hurt or involved if it weren't for me."

"Lia, this isn't your fault." Ethan sternly said, "First of all, I started it. He wouldn't have touched me if I didn't touch him. Secondly, he was touching you without permission. Anyone in a ten-mile radius could've seen that. That's why he got kicked out, and not us." He shook his head in disbelief, "If anything it's my fault. I said you'd always be safe under my watch, and you weren't."

"This isn't your fault, Laundry Basket." She sent him a sad smile, one that he gladly returned. "Isaiah just ruins everything." She shook her head, "He seems to always do that."

"He didn't ruin anything, Lia," Ethan told her. She shyly looked down, another tear falling.

"He does. And if you think he hasn't yet, he will."

Ethan pressed his lips together, looking at her with worry as he wiped a tear from her cheek. She looked up at him because of this action, their eyes meeting as he was already looking at her. "He's not going to ruin anything. I promise."

Lia didn't respond, not knowing how to. She still felt extremely guilty, but not half as bad as she had only minutes before. Her tears stopped, although her cheeks were red and puffy from how much she'd been crying. Ethan's eyes flickered down to her pink lips before back up at her eyes. 

The girl's heart dropped to her stomach as she noticed this action, feeling the millions of butterflies she usually felt when she was around Ethan. The boy found himself leaning in towards her, their lips only centimeters apart before the bathroom door swung open.

"Hey, guy- oh my god!" Ozzie exclaimed, covering his eyes. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" He apologized.

Ethan bounced away from Lia, the girl quickly throwing herself off of the bathroom sink. Both of their faces grew a dark shade of red.

"What is it, Oz?" Lia asked, feeling out of breath.

"We're all heading to that 24/7 diner by campus. We just wanted to see if you wanted to come with us but I- I see you're busy." Ozzie finally looked at the two, feeling relieved that they were now just simply standing side by side.

"We'll come," Lia said quickly. "At least I will."

"I'm down," Ethan agreed just as quickly, feeling awkward that one of Lia's best friends almost caught him attempting to kiss her.

Lia's lips buzzed with excitement, as they were so close to kissing. She hadn't kissed anyone in months, and just the idea of getting a small peck from Ethan made her heart jump with joy. She didn't care she didn't know him as well as she knew Isaiah when they first kissed, all she knew was that the next time she was in this position, she was locking the bathroom door.

"Great, uh, well I'll be out-"

"No! You're fine, we can just-" Lia stopped with a laugh, "We can walk together it's fine."

Ethan nodded, agreeing with her as he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "Yes, walk with us."

Ozzie glanced between the two, his face growing red as he awkwardly stood in front of them. "Um, okay."

The two followed Ozzie out of the frat party back to the front yard, where everyone had stood waiting. It was silent, the group standing in the yard just sending curious glances to the trio.

"Jesus, you guys get caught fucking or something?" Amanda asked, causing Lia's face to grow redder.

"Nope," Ozzie quickly answered, patting Lia on the back. The simple pat on the back caused Lia to wince, much louder than she had when Ethan touched her. Ozzie looked at her in confusion, "Are you okay?"

"Yep, all good." She lied, "Let's get going, I'm hungry."

"Girl, amen to that!" Amanda said, grabbing onto Cleo's hand. "Let's get going!"

"How mad you think they're going to be that twelve of us are walking in at eleven pm?" Mindy asked, glancing at her phone screen to check the time.

"Is there really twelve of us?" Tara asked.

Sure enough, there was. There was Lia and Ethan, on top of the group they'd come with to the party which consisted of Cleo, Amanda, Joshua, Jonah, and Ozzie. Then there was the group that Mindy had come with, which consisted of her, Chad, Tara, Anika, and Tatum.

"The group just keeps getting bigger and bigger," Mindy said.

The conversation continued as the group began the walk to the diner, Ethan and Lia lingering in the back just as they had on the walk there.

"I'm sorry I ruined your night," Lia said, soft enough for just Ethan to hear.

"Ruined it? You didn't, Lia." Ethan shook his head, "Despite getting punched and you getting hurt, I'm still getting to spend time with you which was all I wanted in the first place."

"If that's all you wanted in the first place we definitely could've done anything but this." Lia sent him a look, crossing her arms over her stomach. "I wouldn't have minded staying in and watching Mamma Mia!"

"Mamma Mia!?" He questioned, sending her a look.

"Only my favorite movie of all time." She smiled at him, a genuine smile that didn't have heartbreak or sadness in it.

Ethan smiled at this, glad she was finally back to herself and not the heartbroken girl he'd seen only an hour before. "Well, then next time that's what we'll do."

"Next time?" She asked, quoting the same question he'd asked only days before.

Ethan rolled his eyes playfully, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "I'll always want a next time, Lia."

"Always?" She then questioned, causing him to laugh loudly.

"Always."

"Well that means I can finally fill my calendar with all of my free time," Lia joked, looking ahead of her.

Ethan just continued to stare at her, finding nothing but perfection about her. This felt bittersweet, as although he loved everything about tonight despite the obvious parts, he knew that this wouldn't last long. He only had so long before things would be changing, and the last thing he wanted was for Lia to get caught up in all of this.

If she were to know the truth about who he truly was, what would she think?

++

2270 words.

Anywayssss...

* This chapter is not edited *