Falling In

“Morning,” Ethan greeted as he walked into the kitchen the next morning and sat down at the table

“Morning,” I mumbled as I set down his plate in front of where he was sitting.

“What embarrassing thing did I do last night?” he asked me, clutching at his head.

“What embarrassing thing?” I asked with a smirk.

“I did something stupid, huh?” he groaned.

“You always do something stupid when you’re drunk,” I laughed.

“I know, what did I do this time?” he asked.

“Nothing actually,” I lied.

“You lie,” he accused.

“Eat and take that Advil. I’ll see you later,” I said to him and walked out of the kitchen to get ready for the day’s work.

“Stella!” he called out but I ignored him.

I was in the middle of my day when Deegan called me.

“Deegs, I don’t know what to do, I swear!” I whined. “I talked to Hazelyn by the way.”

“Dolciani?”

“Yup, her,” I said to him, knowing he had a huge fan crush on her. “But yeah, you know her story with Ryan?”

“Yeah. They’re like a fairytale come true,” he scoffed. “That asshole,” he mumbled.

“Yeah well she told me about the entire thing. Even the ones that weren’t released to the public,” I said to him, letting out a chuckle at how much he hated Ryan because he was married to her. “And she asked me how long I avoided him.”

“Almost 4 years right? How’d she know?”

“That’s the thing. She and Ryan didn’t see each other for 3 years, and she’s telling me to listen to his explanation and give it a shot,” I mumbled.

“Maybe you should listen to her,” my bestfriend said.



I walked into the house, tired from the long day that I had. I was hungry, since the only mean I’ve had was the one that I finished before Ethan walked in that morning.

“Hey Stells, dinner,” Ethan said popping his head out of the kitchen.

I walked in and was greeted with a table full of food. “Holy shit. Is that what I think it is?!” I screeched.

“Are you thinking that it’s your favorite baked Alaska?” he asked with a smirk.

“So, I spent so much time with the Flambé, I forgot about the main course. So, I just made grilled pesto chicken and crab sandwiches,” he said scratching the back of his head.

“Holy shit, you’re amazing,” I shook my head as I ran over to him and attacked him with a hug. “You do not know how hungry I am,” I said and sat down. He sat down in front of me and laughed. “Wait, how’d you make this? You had work, didn’t you?” I asked.

“I called in. I said that I was hungover,” he chuckled. “So, I stayed home and cooked.”

God, I wanted to die right now.

We had our dinner, and I was grinning from ear to ear when he started to flambé the baked Alaska. Once he set my piece on my plate, I started to attack it.

“God, I miss this,” I said after my first bite. “I swear, I’ve tried fifty baked alaskas in the past three years,” I said. “Ignore that, I’m just on cloud nine right now,” I said. Ethan just laughed as he too took a piece for himself.

We finished the entire thing in silence.

“So…,” I said awkwardly. Now that I was sober from the initial excitement, I was now aware at how awkward it was.

“So… Did you like dinner?” he asked me, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah, I did,” I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

He blushed as he looked down. “You’re welcome.” He started to clean up and I went upstairs to wash up, and snuck out of the house through the balcony, and jumped down to the snow covered lawn. I saw Ethan walk out of the kitchen, turning the lights off in the process.

I took my phone out of my pocket as I walked further away from the cabin and into a patch of trees in the neighborhood. I dialed the familiar number and waited for the person to answer.

“Hey,” he said.

“Deegan!” I whined.

“What happened?” he asked me.

“I’m fucked,” I huffed as I sat down at the trunk of a big tree.

“What did you do?” he asked me, now with a sigh.

“I didn’t do anything! I promise! It was him! I had a long day at work, and then I came home and he had dinner,” I whined.

“You’re mad, why?”

“Because Deegan Evans! I’m supposed to be mad at him!”

“Why?”

“The thing! Last night! When he got drunk and smoked!”

“And you’re worried?”

“Yes!” I huffed. “No!” I quickly took back. “If I’m gonna be staying at the same house as him and gonna be in the same car, I wouldn’t want a smoker!” I reasoned.

“Uhuh, right,” he laughed.

“Leave it, Deegan.”

“Wait, how drunk was he?”

“Trashed,” I emphasized.

He was silent for a minute. “What did he do this time? I remember the first time he got super trashed was on your 16th birthday. When the guy at the beach was hitting on you,” he laughed. “And he kissed you, then the next day, he didn’t remember shit. We all know he blurts out the truth when he’s drunk and he’d do anything he wouldn’t even dare to when sober.” I hesitated for a minute, making Deegan confirm his thoughts. “I’m your bestfriend. Tell me.”

I sighed and looked back at the cabin. “Okay, fine,” I mumbled. “He was throwing up and after he asked why it feels like he’s the only one falling in love,” I mumbled quietly.

“What?!” Deegan shouted. “What were the exact words?”

“I don’t remember!”

“Stella Grace,” he warned.

“Okay okay. He said: God, Stella Grace. Why does it feel like I’m the only one falling in love?!” I quoted.

“Holy fuck,” my bestfriend mumbled.

“Ditto.”

“You must’ve been talking about something else before that,” he said.

“Yeah, I asked him why he got drunk.”

“Shit Stella, you’re not supposed to leave these details out! What did he say?”

I huffed. “I asked him if he was feeling any better. He said he didn’t and had no clue what he’s doing, but he did know how he felt. So, I tried to lift up the moved and asked ‘what? Like shit?’ and he said ‘Yep. Especially after seeing you with Kyle Brooks’ then accused me of fucking him behind a bush,” I mumbled.

“Oh shit. Ethan’s jealous Stellsy,” Deegan laughed.

“What does he even have to be jealous about?” I heard myself say. “I mean, in all seriousness Ethan Jay is a Greek god. Have you not seen him and his gorgeous glory?” I scoffed.

“Greek God, huh Descenzo? I heard from behind me. I shot up and spun around, seeing that Ethan was leaning against the trunk of the tree, his arms crossed and had a smirk on his lips.

“Ah fuck,” I mumbled. “I’ll call you back,” I told my bestfriend and hung up on him. “What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“I was taking a walk, and I heard mumbling,” he said to me. “How about you? Feeling like a teenager wanting to gush to her bestfriend how she’s stuck in a house with a Greek god?” he laughed.

I blushed madly as I shot him a glare. “Don’t flatter yourself, Versace.”

“Oh really? Because as far as I know, you see me as a totally gorgeous Greek god, and I am quite flattered that you think so,” he winked. I blushed like mad once again.

“Look your head’s inflating and it’s about to explode,” I mumbled as I pushed past him.

“Hey! Hold on!” he called as he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Leave me alone,” I mumbled as I tried to get my arm out of his grip.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he told me.

“You just caught me sneaking out into the woods and called up my bestfriend and you just heard me tell him I think you’re totally gorgeous. I think I have a pretty damn good reason to be embarrassed,” I snapped, and looked away from him.

“Hey, look at me,” he said as he put a hand under my chin and forced me to face him. “You’ve seen how I see you,” he said to me with a soft smile.

“No, I haven’t. I asked you the question, and you didn’t even answer it,” I mumbled as I leaned towards the tree. “I mean, let’s face it E. You’re in the same bloodline as two of the legendary designers in the entire planet. Dead and alive. You have the genes to be a fucking model. And I’m what? Just plain me. Just plain Stella Grace. That must be why you couldn’t answer the damn question without hurting my feelings,” I laughed dryly.

“You’re not,” he cut in seriously. “You’re not just plain Stella Grace,” he told me. “You just don’t know it yet, but you’re not just plain Stella Grace. To me, you’re the best snowboarder, you have a genuine heart, you’re a great friend, great sister, great daughter, and a great mom to Avalanche,” he smirked.

“Stop E,” I mumbled.

“Stella, listen to me. You might be crazy, but I love that about you. I love the cute way that you used to squeal whenever we went to Sea World and saw Shamu and the Dolphins. The adorable way that you’d shove all the food in your mouth and don’t give a shit about what other say. The way you look into my eyes to calm yourself down when you’re hurt. I love all those things about you.

“The reason that I couldn’t answer the question is because there isn’t a word worthy enough to be used to describe you,” he said to me. “I guess I’ll have to say… You’re perfectly imperfect,” he smiled softly at me. “That’s how I see you, Stella Grace,” he whispered quietly.

I was now looking up at him, my eyebrows furrowed. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, and continued to speak. “God, you don’t know how good it feels that you’re right here in front of me right now. You don’t know how crazy it drives me that I’m touching you,” he said and ran his hand along my arm and held my hand in his, our fingers entwined.

“Almost four years Stella. Almost four years. I’ve waited for this for almost four years,” he said to me. “Even after you ran off and left me so damn confused, I can put all those damned reasons aside, because you’re reasonable. I know you had a reason, and I’m hoping some day you’d tell me. But even after all the shit I’ve felt because of whatever happened. I can’t say that all these little things make me fall in love with you, because after giving a five hour thought on it while I cooked… I realized that I already fell hard for you the first time that I laid my eyes on you at Gerald’s party, and every single day I fall in deeper and deeper.”

He was now right in front of me, his breath tickling my lips softly. “I can’t tell the future but I, can tell the future that I don’t want a future that don’t include you,” he sang softly before he pressed them to mine, making my heart beat out of my chest.