Walking inside the elevator, I pressed the button a little too hard. As soon as the doors closed, my mind was again filled with images of Ethan. Ethan with his arms wrapped around a beautiful girl, to be more precise. On the way to my apartment, I tried really hard to block out these images to remain alert while walking alone but now that I am safe and all alone in this elevator, I can't get the image of the girl kissing his neck out of my head.

It was not a view I had in my mind when I stepped inside the house. I was there to surprise Ethan, not to get shocked. This night wasn't supposed to play out like the way it did.

The emotions that resurfaced tonight when I set my eyes on that gorgeous platinum blonde were neither acknowledged nor welcomed. They could stay right where they were, buried deep inside.

The worst part is, I can't really figure out whether I am more pissed at him or myself? Ethan Knight is an asshole. An asshole who flirts with you and then hooks up with someone else. But then again, we aren't together. Why am I getting so affected by this?

Okay then, it's sorted. Ethan, with a girl wrapped around him, is fine. Perfectly fine because he is not my boyfriend.

Even after convincing myself that it didn't matter, I couldn't let go of the gloomy feeling in my chest.

I was about to unlock the door of my apartment when I heard footsteps. Running. On the stairs. Our apartment is on the fifteenth floor. Who in their right mind runs up fifteen sets of stairs?

Ignoring it, I started unlocking the door but before I could push it open; I heard a certain someone call my name, making me close my eyes in annoyance.

Great! Just great!

"Iris..." Ethan said softly, but it was hard to say anything softly when you are panting.

Turning around, I took a moment to look at him. He was still wearing the same clothes, and they weren't crumpled or creased, but his hair, on the other hand, was a complete mess.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, maintaining my composure when all I wanted to do was smash his head in the nearest fucking wall.

I sound like a fucking jealous ex. Oh, fuck no!

"It isn't what it looked like." He said, cautiously taking a step towards me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, playing stupid.

I am not his girlfriend. We are not dating. I can't ask for answers. Neither do I want to. I repeated all these sentences in my head again and again.

"I think you know what I am talking about." He said confidently, calling me out.

"No. I don't." I said monotonously and turned around to open the door. Hopefully, having a door between us would end this conversation.

As I stepped inside the apartment, I threw my bag on the table beside the door. Taking out my phone from the bag, I didn't bother switching it on because I don't want to deal with a flood of text right now.

"Can I come inside?" Ethan asked, standing at the doorstep.

"It's your sister's apartment. You can come in whenever you want." I said intentionally.

As soon as those words left my mouth, I could instantly see the hurt on his face. This wasn't just his sister's apartment. It was my apartment, too.

"Look Iris, I know it looked all shades of wrong but I can explain it." He said stepping inside the apartment, which automatically caused me to take a step back because being in close vicinity with Ethan does not work well for my reasoning and right now, I need my reasoning more than ever.

"Look, Ethan, just go, okay? You have nothing to explain. You don't owe me an explanation or anything for that matter." I said, pushing my hair back.

"I don't know if I owe you an explanation or not, and I don't care. I am here because I want to explain. I am here because I value whatever we have going on. I don't what it is, but it is something that I don't want to let go of. I can't let of." His words sent my brain into a haze. I was already hyper-aware of him, seeing how close we were standing.

"Ariana Moore. Her name is Ariana Moore. I have hooked up with her a couple of times in the past. I did not know that she was going to be at the party, but that's not the point. The point is, I didn't even know she was there so, I was caught off guard when she flung herself at me, literally. She wrapped herself around me and started kissing my neck before I could push her back and right then, I saw you. It all happened at once. I am so sorry it happened and I am sorry I didn't react faster. I am sorry you had to see that. Trust me, I would never something like that to you." He explained in a low voice, cupping my face, and forced me to look into his eyes. I looked long and hard at his face to find anything other than honestly and desperation. Desperation for me to understand that this was a misunderstanding.

"You had your arms wrapped around her." I mumbled in a weak attempt to hold my side of the story. It was perfect. I saw him with another girl. I walked away, and we both stopped talking. My version of the story will prevent heartbreak in the future but...... it wasn't true.

"Because I didn't want to fall back with her on top of me." I already knew this. The situation was pretty clear to me now.

It was a misunderstanding and I would realize that eventually when I would have let go of my anger. I saw things right when they were as bad as they could get. I don't blame Ethan. It's not his fault if some girl randomly jumped his bones, but the whole situation was not pretty. The night turned out to be a big fail. I was supposed to surprise him with my presence; we were supposed to have fun. This isn't what I signed up for when I dressed up in the shortest blue dress I own.

"I am sorry." He continued.

"No, you don't have to be sorry. It's not your fault." I said, wrapping my hands around his wrist.

"This is not how I thought this night would turn out." Ethan whispered softly and leaned his forehead against mine.

"What I had in my mind was so different from what actually happened." I said, leaning in his touch subconsciously.

For a few minutes, neither of us spoke anything. We just stood there breathing each other in with our eyes closed. Calming ourselves after everything that happened. The last two months have been so normal, happy, and drama-free that for once, I completely forgot what it was like to have problems and fight through them every second of every day. I completely forgot what it was like standing in the middle of the chaos.

"We should go back to the party." Ethan said, taking a tiny step away.

Like the words triggered something inside me, I opened my eyes in a snap and said without even a second thought, "No!"

"I mean, I don't want to go back to the party. I am not in the party mood anymore and you could stay, you know. I mean, I won't force you to stay if you want to go back to the party. Why would I force you? But all I am saying is we could, you know, just stay back and watch a movie or something and... I should stop talking now." I rambled on and on. Ethan was staring back at me with so much amusement on his face, I knew he would burst out laughing any moment now.

"Don't you dare laugh." I warned him in a stern voice, pointing my finger at his face.

"I..." He burst out laughing even before he could finish his sentence.

"That's not fair!" I whined like a nine-year kid and stomped my heel-clad feet.

That seemed to make him laugh harder. Not thinking of anything else, I picked up a throw pillow from the couch and smacked him right on the face with it. That seemed to stop his laughter almost instantly.

"You did not." He said accusingly, with an enormous smile on his face which he tried so hard to hide.

"I did." I knew what would follow this, so I started taking tiny steps backward to get a head start.

"That was a bad move, Reed."

Then it all happened at once. He had a pillow in his hands before I could blink and he threw it right at my face.

"Oh, you don't get to leave after hitting me." He said, as he saw me trying to run.

It was all hands and pillows after that. I was desperately trying to catch a break from the hits I was receiving while throwing a hit of my once in a while. Our loud laughter echoed throughout the house as we ran around the living room, trying to get to each other.

Running around in heels was difficult, but it was all going fine until my heel got stuck in the rug in front of the couch, making me fall backward. Just when I thought I was about to meet the hard floor, Ethan's hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me to him.

"Easy there." He said as I stumbled into his chest.

"Thank you." I mumbled, looking up at him.

"You should never run in heels. No one told you that before?" Ethan asked me with amusement.

"Oh no, Ethan. No one told me that running in fucking five inches heels is hazardous. You are the only person I've met in my life who has common sense." I said sarcastically.

"Thank you very much but before commenting on my common sense, don't forget, you were the one running around in heels." He smirked, using my statement against me.

"Oh, like you weren't running behind me with that pillow in your hand." I accused.

"Yeah, but you started it." Ethan countered.

"You were laughing at me."

"You were stomping your feet." We were both arguing, but it wasn't like before. We were arguing with huge smiles on our faces.

"Again, you were laughing at me."

"You were rambling."

"You were leavi-" I stopped mid-sentence as soon as I realized what I was about to say down looked down as I felt the blush rush up to my cheeks. I did not just tell him that. I did not just tell him that I didn't like that he was leaving.

"I was leaving." He completed my sentence and cupped my chin to tilt my head towards him so that I could see the soft smile on his face.

"Yes, you were." I said, looking up to meet his eyes. At that moment, everything around us froze, and it was just us staring into each other's eyes. I was truly happy at this moment. All the facts, why we wouldn't work, or why I don't want to pursue this left my mind as soon as my blue eyes met his brown eyes. It was just us.

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Hey guys! I need something from you all today. Another day, I would understand if you don't comment but today, I need you to. This chapter has been a pain in my ass for the past four days. Yes, I was supposed to post it four days ago but I couldn't because I was not sure of it. I have already edited it like five times and changed a lot of things before I said, fuck it and posted it otherwise I would have never posted it. So, please comment and tell me what you think of this chapter because I don't know how I feel about this and this is one of my favorite chapters. So, Sad Me.

Anyways, don't forget to vote and share if you liked this chapter. I love you <3

QOTD: Have you watched any show from TVDU? If yes, who is your all-time favorite character?