Ethan and I were downstairs and sat around Lucas' breakfast table. To my relief, Lucas' parents were off on some trip, so we didn't have to worry about accidentally bumping into them.

 While Ethan enthusiastically shoveled down his cereal, I sat with my head in my hands as I tried to fight my raging hangover.

 It was my first time experiencing one, and let me tell you it was ten billion times worse than I ever thought possible. It was a mystery to me why people would drink to excess when they had this to deal with the next day. I could barely even look at my toast, let alone eat it. I never thought we'd reach a day, where I, Mia Collins, didn't want to eat, but here we are. 

I let out another long groan as another painful throb passed through my head. I rubbed my temples; in the hopes, this would ease the pain. 

Ethan looked up at me, and his eyebrows knitted together in concern. "Are you sure you're okay, Chubs? Do you want to go back upstairs and lie down?" he asked kindly. 

"No. it's fine. I'll stay down here," I said as I waved my hand around dismissively.

I pricked my head up in intrigue, as I heard footsteps start to descend the stairs. The kitchen door flew open, and May walked in with a yawn, she had messy bed hair and was only wearing a shirt.  A guy's shirt. A shirt which I distinctly remember Lucas wearing last night.

  Interesting...

As her eyes landed on the two of us, she froze in place like a deer caught in headlights. 

And just like that, I was suddenly starting to feel a whole lot better... 

"Morning, May," I sang cheerfully, as the corners of my lips stretched out into a smile. I then made a dramatic show of surveying her clothes up and down, with widened eyes.

 "My, my, my. I see you've been busy," I commented slyly, as I picked up my mug and took a long sip. It didn't even have any drink in it, but I wanted to get my judgment across. 

 May narrowed her eyes and put a hand sassily onto her hip.

"Oh, so we're playing the embarrass each other game? Because if so, I've got quite a few things I'd like to say to our old pal, Ethan," May snapped, as her eyes sparkled with a threat. 

"Okay. Point made. I'll shut up," I said quickly. Ethan shot me a curious look, and I felt my heart elevate in panic. 

Quick Mia, change the topic.

 I turned back to May. "So.... what did you guys do?" I sang childishly, as I waggled my eyebrows.

 Her face flushed a little red, and she rolled her eyes. "I didn't have sex with him if that's what you were thinking. We just talked..." May explained.

 I raised a single eyebrow. 

"Okay fine, we might have made-out a little, as well," she mumbled, as she looked down in embarrassment.

"That's funny, Mia tried to make-out with someone too," Ethan playfully remarked, in between mouthfuls of cereal.

 I gasped and reached out and slapped him upside the head. "Why the hell did he bring that up?" I snapped. 

He promised that he wasn't going to tease me about it for the rest of the day. It had been less than fifteen minutes since that promise, and he'd already brought it up. May just arched an eyebrow and looked between us curiously.

 "Don't ask," I said quickly.

The door to the kitchen then burst open for a second time, and Lucas walked in. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, as I took in his half-naked self, clad out only in his boxers. For someone I considered as my brother, it wasn't the most pleasant sight to be greeted with, first thing in the morning. Especially when I already felt nauseous, to begin with. 

Ethan let out a groan of annoyance and slammed his spoon down into his bowl. "For fuck's sake man, put some bloody clothes on. We're trying to eat," Ethan grumbled.

 Lucas slowly turned around to face him. "Sorry if I'm mistaken, but I thought this was my house," he snapped as he jutted his hip out sassily.

I almost burst out into laughter at the funny sight of his six-foot-three muscular self, striking a sassy pose, but I stopped myself just in time. I was supposed to be mad at him.

 I cleared my throat to get his attention. "I hope you had a great night, Lucas," I spat. "Because some of us don't remember anything. Because some people leave drugged cookies just lying around their fucking house and when innocent, unsuspecting people eat them, they lie and tell them it'll be fine. Newsflash Lucas, I wasn't fucking fine," I yelled, as I shot him a daggered look.

Lucas' eyebrows raised in surprise, and he looked incredibly taken aback by my outburst. His face slowly stretched out into a guilty smile. "Er...my bad?" he laughed nervously.

I didn't even grace him with a worded response, and just gave him a rude gesture with my finger.

 Lucas raised a pointed finger. "Hey, in my defense. If you weren't so greedy and just ate one fucking cookie like I don't know, a normal person. You might have only been lightly buzzed," Lucas argued. 

I let out a bitter laugh. "Just sleep with one eye open," I snapped.

-------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I could do this, I only had fifteen more minutes of this shift, and then I was a free man. 

Yet again, I had been forced to endure another painfully long shift at my favorite place in the world-Sugar Shake. 

As quickly as I could, I balanced table one's orders onto a tray and started to make my way over. The bell above the shop door chimed, indicating someone had just come in. Glancing over, the corners of my lips pulled up into a smile as I noticed Ethan walk in. He noticed me straight away and made his way over to me. 

"Hey, Chubs, just the girl I was looking for," he smiled. Shamefully, that's all it took for my heart to pound, and my knees to weaken. I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, so flustered by his unannounced arrival. 

"Chubs, your tray!" Ethan yelled abruptly. 

I looked down in confusion and widened my eyes as I realized it was slipping. I quickly straightened it out with a nervous laugh. "Whoops," I giggled. 

Ethan laughed and shook his head at me in amusement. "Give it here, clumsy. I'll help you," Ethan chuckled, as he pulled it from my hands. "Which table is it for?" He asked as he started to look around.

 "You don't have to do that Ethan; you don't work here," I said, as I tried to pry it out of his hands. 

"Which table, Mia?" he repeated more firmly this time. 

Knowing how stubborn he could be, I let out a heavy sigh and gave in. "It's that's one over there with the teenage boys," I said, as I gestured for him to follow.

Once we arrived at the table, I gave them a warm smile. "Here you go guys, sorry for the wait," I said as I took the tray from Ethan and started to hand out their orders.

 I quickly scanned them over and took in their appearance. They had leather jackets, tight jeans, and cocky ass smirks on their faces which just screamed trying too hard to be 'a bad boy'.

My eyes were drawn to one guy at the table in particular, who was boldly eyeing me up and down, without an ounce of subtlety. He was clearly the type who didn't give a monkey's ass if he was making someone uncomfortable or not. I just cleared my throat and pretended not to notice. 

"Anything else I can get you guys?"

 Mr 'I-lack-manners' chuckled. "We're good for now unless you're willing to provide additional service," he winked. The fake smile on my face dropped, as I realized what he likely meant by 'additional services.' 

The cackles of his friends picked up from around him, further driving home my aggravation. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, in and out. 

  Just fifteen more minutes, Mia. Just fifteen more minutes. 

"Unless those 'additional services' are to kick you up your fucking ass, I don't think she'll be providing," Ethan snapped. This immediately made me snap my eyes open, and I looked over at Ethan in horror.

  Fuck, I forgot he was here. This couldn't go well... 

Mr. I-lack-manners looked up at Ethan in surprise, and fear flashed through his eyes before he quickly composed himself.

 "And you are?" he scoffed. 

No, no, no, Why would he say that?

Ethan let out a bitter laugh, before bending down and squared himself up in the guy's face. "Someone whose patience is ticking," he spat. 

And that's my cue to jump in. 

 With a nervous laugh, I pushed Ethan to the side, so I was standing between the two of them. I turned back to the guys and smiled. "Anyway...," I laughed. "I hope you all enjoy your ice cream-guy and please shout if you need anything."

 Then I grabbed Ethan by the hand and carted him away with me. The last thing, I needed was for Ethan to beat up my customers. I needed all the good tips I could get.

As we walked away, I heard one of them faintly mumble something I couldn't quite catch. Ethan stopped walking. 

"Nope, no. Don't even think about it, keep walking," I ordered as I gave another vicious yank on his arm. He groaned in annoyance but reluctantly kept walking, but this didn't stop him from glaring at him over his shoulder every three seconds.

As soon as we made it to the counter, Ethan spun me around to face him. "What the fuck, Mia? Why didn't you stand up for yourself?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Some customers are just like that, you get better at blocking it out with time," I replied honestly.

 Ethan's jaw tightened, and he somehow managed to look even more pissed off than before. "This has happened before?" he yelled.

 "Well, a couple of times..." I mumbled. I purposely left out that I meant a couple of times a week. 

What can I say? We get a lot of horny teenagers. 

He groaned in annoyance. "I heard them when you were leaving Mia. They said...they said...I don't even want to repeat what said. It was just disgusting," he snapped as he turned around to glower at them once more. 

I grabbed his chin and turned him to face me. "Let them say what they want, Ethan, who cares! It didn't hurt my feelings, so it shouldn't hurt yours," I said softly.

His eyes softened, and the corner of his lips tipped up into a smile. "You're right, you're always right," he sighed.

"Wait, why are you even here?" I asked abruptly.

 "Oh right, I knew you finished work in a couple of minutes, so I came to give you a ride home," he shrugged.

"Why?" I said in confusion, he never normally picked me up. 

"Well, one, because I need to do my charity work for the day," he chuckled. "And two, because I wanted to take you somewhere..." he drawled mysteriously. 

"Okay, then.." I said suspiciously.

"Mimi, the manager called, she said you're free to go," Ben said as he stuck his head out from the backroom. He froze when his eyes locked on Ethan.

 "Oh, you're here..." Ben mumbled, as his smile slowly faded from his face. Naturally, things were still a bit tense between the two of them after 'the incident.'

 Ethan dug his hands in his pockets and rocked awkwardly back and forth on to his feet "Look, Ben, I'm sorry for hitting you the other day..it was..it was uncalled for," Ethan apologized, as his gaze dropped down to the floor in shame. 

Ben let out a hearty chuckle. "Don't worry about it, we were purposely winding you up, so I get it," he said softly. 

Ethan's shoulders sagged down in relief.

 "Oh, and for the record, even if I did like Mia, I don't think I'd stand a chance. She's got her eyes on someone else," Ben chuckled, as he shot a playful wink in my direction.

That little snitch...

"He's lying," I snapped quickly, before rushing to the back room, away from Ethan's curious and prying eyes.

 Quickly removing my apron, I grabbed my bag before heading over to the shop door where Ethan was waiting for me. I was almost there when I suddenly felt a hand wrap around my wrist and yank. I swerved around in confusion, and I almost let out a frustrated cry when I saw it was the same dickhead from earlier. 

What the fuck did he want from me? 

Before I could even say anything, he winked and slid a piece of paper into my palm. I picked it out of my palm in confusion and slowly unfolded it. I scoffed when I saw what was written. It had a mobile number written on it, alongside a message that said, 'If you need a fuck'. I just rolled my eyes at him, before continuing my way to the door. 

I knew the perfect place for this little note; the dustbin.

Finally, I made it to the door where Ethan was waiting. Correction, where a very angry Ethan was waiting. I tried to play it off as though nothing had happened and opened the door to leave. 

"So, where did you park?"

He completely ignored me and grabbed my hand before snatching the paper from my grasp. 

"Ethan, don't read that, you're just gonna get upset," I sighed. 

It was too late, and I watched helplessly, as Ethan scanned over the paper. Without any hesitation, he started to rip at the paper until it was divided into tiny threads. A muscle in Ethan's jaw ticked, as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

 "Wait here, I think I forgot something," he grumbled as he made a step towards the door. His intention was clear, from the anger burning in his eyes. I put a hand on his chest, to stop him. 

"I'm not stupid, Ethan, I'm not going to let you beat him up. You're better than that," I snapped as I focused my eyes onto his intensely. 

He seemed to have an internal battle, and his eyes flickering between the shop and then myself before his eyes finally settled on mine and softened. "You know you're really annoying, right?" he grumbled. 

I smiled in victory. "I know," I sang, as I skipped my way happily to his car. 

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Author's note:

Chapter 35 is all done! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks so much for reading xx

Where do you think Ethan's going to take her?

Next update: Monday (6-8PM-English time)