"I don't think I'd ever leave this place,"

"I came as soon as I-" Ethan stopped at the beginning of the living room, his eyes immediately landing on Lia. She was still sound asleep in Ozzie's lap, and despite the pang of jealousy flowing through his veins, he pushed it aside as Lia's voice in his head reminded him that there was nothing between the two.

He watched as Ozzie held a finger to his lips before pointing downward at Lia. "She's asleep," He mumbled, stating the obvious.

Ethan had been on the way to having what his father called a 'meeting'. He knew what it was about, and frankly, he didn't want anything to do with it. He had almost been there when an unknown number called, and he was glad he answered due to it being Ozzie. Ozzie had asked him to come over to Lia's dorm, as she was needing him here with her. Obviously, Ethan chose her over his family. He chose her without a doubt, and without a second thought. He knew he'd be hearing about it later, but he didn't care. He never wanted anything to do with what his father and sister had planned in the first place, and this was the perfect excuse to get him away from their diabolical thoughts.

Amanda and Cleo followed suit, her eyes sliding from Ethan to Ozzie, who had his head resting against his hand. The three just stared at the sleeping girl, nobody beginning the conversation.

"You got her to talk?" Amanda asked softly, careful to not wake her up. Thankfully, she was in a deep sleep so their whispers wouldn't wake her, and Ozzie just nodded in response.

"So what's going on with her?" Cleo asked.

"That Isaiah dude, the one from the party." He whispered.

Ethan knew. Deep down, he knew this was what had been bothering her. It was the obvious answer, and part of him was glad that Ozzie had noticed this as well, as it meant Lia had opened up and got it off of her chest.

"I think she just needs to rest for a while," Ozzie said.

"I thought she needed me here," Ethan said, moving the Walmart bag from one hand to the other.

"Oh, she definitely does. She didn't say it, but she needs someone, and that someone would be you." Ozzie shifted, gently removing the pillow between her head and his lap.

Ethan stayed silent but watched as Ozzie carefully moved out from underneath her. He lifted her up, the girl surprisingly staying knocked out as he held her bridal style.

"I'm going to carry her to the room, okay?" He asked, glancing between the three standing in front of him.

Nobody objected, and Ethan watched as Ozzie carried her to her bedroom.

"She's going to wake up and be creeped out that I'm here," Ethan spoke.

"Probably. But, that's when you say this was all Ozzie's idea." Amanda gave Ethan a pat on the back.

Cleo sent him a smile, to which he just nodded in response. The two girls then went into Amanda's room, going to look for whatever it was Amanda had come home for in the first place.

Ethan slowly began walking toward Lia's room, passing Ozzie as he did so. Before he could get too far, though, Ozzie grabbed him by the upper arm. "Dude, I need to tell you something."

"Something private?" Ethan asked, "Or should we get the girls out here-"

"No no, no that's not needed." Ozzie interrupted, glancing to make sure nobody was listening. "I don't think Lia's going to appreciate me telling anyone at all, but she doesn't know I know."

"What's going on?" Ethan asked, looking between Ozzie's light brown eyes.

"So um, do you remember anything happening to Lia- physically?" He asked awkwardly, "The other night."

Ethan stayed silent, the night of the party replaying in his head. He remembered her pushing out of Isaiah's grip, then-

"Oh my god, he pushed her," Ethan spoke, shock written on his features. "She was trying to get him away from me and he shoved her away."

"Well, whatever he did, she's got the injury to show it." Ozzie cleared his throat, "She's got a welt the size of fucking Alaska on her lower back."

Ethan's brows furrowed in concern, realizing she'd been acting weird with how she'd been sitting lately. Anytime anyone touched her back at all, really, she winced and shrugged it off as a pain in her back. Nobody questioned it, even Ethan who had seen Isaiah push her into the counter.

"Oh my god," Was all Ethan managed to muster out, Ozzie nodding in response.

"If you confront her about it be careful, okay?" Ozzie then asked, "I'm not saying anything to anyone else, as I think that's the reason Lia kept quiet this whole time, but you needed to know."

"Thank you, man." Ethan pressed his lips together.

Ozzie just patted him on the shoulder, walking past him to Amanda's room to tell them goodbye. Ethan took that as his queue and finished the walk to Lia's bedroom, the girl laying on her stomach fast asleep.

Ethan shut the door gently behind him before he glanced around the room, this being the first time he'd really been in there. It had a few decorations here and there, along with a bunch of photos of Lia and her friends. Most were of an unknown girl. This unknown girl was most likely Alyssa, Lia's best friend. He connected the dots as the majority of the other photos littered on the corkboard by her vanity were of her friends at Blackmore. The boy smiled as he saw one of him and her from the night everything happened.

They were sitting side by side in a booth, the same one they'd been in only days before the party. Amanda insisted on taking a photo of everyone, as they all seemed to merge groups together and become one giant friend group. This was convenient, considering Ethan was Chad's roommate and Mindy and Anika were dormmates with Amanda and Lia.

Joshua and Jonah were roommates as well, although they were on a different floor than Chad and Ethan. Not that it mattered much, as Ethan only found himself talking to the two whenever they were all together.

"Ethan?" Lia's light voice asked, causing his eyes to snap from her photos to the girl herself. She was sitting up in her bed, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes as she glanced at the bag in his hand. "What-what are you doing here?" She asked, "Where's Ozzie?"

His heart fell at her question about the other boy, but he cleared his throat and shoved the feelings away. "He brought you in here when you fell asleep. He wanted me to come to be with you."

"He-he didn't wanna be here anymore?" Lia asked, a heartbroken look on her face.

"No!" Ethan quickly denied, holding his free hand out. "He just thought- he thought you'd rather me be here." He awkwardly said, feeling as if it was the first time they were talking all over again.

"Oh, okay." Lia nodded, repositioning herself. "Yes."

"Yes?" Ethan questioned, how brow raising.

Lia looked down at her hands, tapping her fingers against each other. "I'd like you to be here more than anyone else." She admitted, her face flushing a dark shade of pink.

Ethan couldn't help the giant smile that covered his features, his stomach filling with butterflies at the simple sentence. It was crazy what this one girl could do to him. She could ask him to do anything and he'd be more than willing, no matter how crazy it was.

"I um-" He stopped, holding the bag up. "I brought some snacks, along with a teddy bear." He nervously walked over to her bed, holding the bag out to her.

"Why so?" She asked, gratefully taking the plastic from him. She opened it up, pulling a beautiful white teddy bear out of the bag along with some candy and snack cakes.

"Well, I was out when Ozzie called, so I thought we could have that movie night we talked about." Ethan nervously told her, "And when I was walking down the aisles looking for what snacks to get, I saw that white bear and it made me think of you."

"Because I'm pasty?" She asked jokingly, causing the boy to laugh.

"No, because you're pretty. And that is the most beautiful teddy bear I've ever seen in my life." He waved a hand to the bear.

Lia didn't say anything at first, but instead sent him another grateful smile. She held it close to her chest, getting a whiff of a familiar smell. "Did... did you spray this?" She asked, her eyes meeting his.

"Maybe, is that weird?" He asked, bouncing back and forth on his feet.

"No, I like your cologne." She admitted.

Ethan just nodded, watching as she shoved the snacks back into the bag. "Is Amanda here?"

"Her and Cleo both were but I think they're leaving again." Ethan said, "I can look if you want me to."

"Sure," She said, and Ethan turned back to the entrance of the room.

When he opened the door, he glanced across the room into the other room to see it had been empty. This meant Amanda, Cleo, and Ozzie had left at some point when Ethan entered Lia's room. "They're gone," He said over his shoulder.

"Okay. We have to watch the movie out there if that's okay. But we can like make a fort on the floor in front of the TV or something," Lia began to gather her blankets together. "I have more blankets in my wardrobe."

Ethan finally looked back at Lia, frowning as he saw the bruise Ozzie had told him about. Her shirt had lifted up when she bent down, a light wince leaving her mouth as she stretched the bruise.

"Lia," He softly said, catching her attention.

Lia stood up straight, turning halfway towards him to see his eyes set on her lower back. "Ethan," She spoke in return, her tone just as soft as his was. "I-"

"Was that because of Isaiah?" He asked, cutting her off. He knew the answer, and she knew that he knew the answer. He just needed confirmation from her, for her to admit it to someone.

She wasn't willing to admit anything about it to Ozzie, and Ozzie hadn't said anything to her. But maybe with Ethan bringing it up to her, she'd be open about it.

Lia dropped the blankets, sitting down on the side of the bed. She stared at the floor in front of her, her eyes filling with tears. She was surprised she could even cry anymore, considering she cried until she fell asleep only just a little bit ago. "It's from the night of the party," She finally admitted, twirling her thumbs around each other.

Ethan slowly made his way over to her, sitting side-by-side with her on the bed. His eyes never left her, his full attention on her as she continued to look at the ground. "I hit the counter twice," She said. "One time was from me pushing myself away from Isaiah, the next when I tried to stop him from touching you."

"You could have told me, Lia." Ethan softly told her, "I would have helped you make sure nothing was cut open, that-"

"I didn't want anyone to know." Lia cut Ethan off, "It's sad and embarrassing having anyone see me like this." She shook her head, before looking over at him. "Especially you."

"I'm not going to judge you for anything at all, Lia." He shook his head, "Maybe anyone else in the friend group, anyone else in the world but I would never judge you for anything."

Lia sniffled, sending him a sad smile before engulfing him in a hug. He quickly returned it, careful to not squeeze her lower back. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, just holding each other as Lia silently let the tears slip.

It took them forever to finally break the hug, deciding it would be best to start the movie considering they had classes the next day.

Ethan helped her gather up pillows and blankets, the pair moving it to the living room where Ethan set it up exactly the way Lia had wanted. He didn't want her to do much bending, knowing that if the bruise is as painful as it looks, then Lia was suffering on the inside.

They laid out their snacks and shut off the lights, Lia putting her DVD into the DVD player sitting underneath the TV on the TV stand. She then settled down next to Ethan, the two sitting awfully close as the main menu popped up.

"I have a confession," Ethan said, catching Lia's attention.

"What's that?" She asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"I've never seen Mamma Mia!"

"WHAT?!"

++

2094 words.

I'm really enjoying writing this I've written the last like 3/4 chapters in one sitting omg.

* This chapter is not edited *