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I ring the doorbell, wait an acceptable a it a second ti on the front door

"Ethan! It’s me Open the door Please, Ethan Open the door"

I feel like a stalker standing out here, like a crazy person who just won’t get the hint But damn it, this isn’t fair He’s the one who came after me He’s the one who made me fall in love with him He’s the one who did all of this And if he wants out now, that’s fine But he doesn’t get to just ignore er interested I’ hickeys from the man, for God’s sake Surely I deserve that , deter else, I want to know that he’s all right That this is just about breaking up, not about so happened to him

After what feels like forever but is probably no more than four or five s open to reveal a bruised and battered Ethan standing in front of me

"Oh my God! What happened to you?" All my relationship worries take a backseat to ht?"

"I’m fine"

"You don’t look fine" I push ht of the foyer And nearly have a heart attack when I do He looks a million times worse illuminated by the chandelier

His left eye is black, the cheekbone below it cut and swollen His jaw is bruised, his lip is split, and there are long gouges down his neck, like soernails in and scratched as hard as they could The blood still looks fresh

"Baby, you need to get to the hospital, get looked at You could have a concussion or internal injuries"

"I’m fine"

"Did you call the police? Did somebody jump you? Where did this happen?"

There’s no emotion in his voice, no inflection at all for as"

"Vegas?" That doesn’t ht you were in New York"

"I was I flew to Vegas thisbecause there was someone there I wanted to talk to"

"Is he the one who did this to you? Did you at least call the police when you were there?"

The look Ethan shoots ood idea considering he’s in much worse shape than I am"

I stare at hiht, not a ?"

He doesn’t anshich--of course--is an answer all on its own "Ethan! What were you thinking?"

"You should probably go"

"Go? Someone needs to check you over and make sure you’re okay Do you hurt anywhere but your face?" I reach for him, start to lift his shirt up and check his ribs, but heat air

"I’m fine Just leave, Chloe" He turns and walks deeper into the house, leavingto happen

Not knohat else to do, I follow hi hallway to the kitchen "Look, Ethan, if you want o I just need to know that you’re really all right"

"I’o"

"Okay, then" On the inside, I’e to keep e, open the freezer door, and ru of frozen peas "Here You should put this on your eye and cheek It will help with the swelling, so maybe you can actually see out of that eye to fro "I’ll co--"

"Don’t"

The dread I’ve been feeling all day turns to ice in an instant "Excuse me?"

"Don’t come back tomorrow Don’t co, stunned second "That’s how you want to play this?"

He shrugs "I guess so"

"That’s not actually good enough If you wantto have to spell it out foron?"

He fixes me with a blank stare that’s so different from the way he usually looks atthe fact that it’s really hier is the sao

"Do I really need to say it, Chloe?" he finally asks

"Yes, Ethan, I think you do Because I obviouslythe line" I knoantsto I kno it felt to be held by his he did with me, for me, and then just walk aith no explanation Not unless he’s a total jerk, and Ethan isn’t

He isn’t

But already the doubts are creeping in He looks so remote, so untouchable, and so untouched that I feel exposed Laid bare On the brink of total humiliation

Please, God, don’t let e mistake I don’t think I could take it

But God isn’t listening, and neither is Ethan Or if he is, he doesn’t like what I’h his hair, starts to turn away from me Like he’s done with this conversation--and aze withto break ht at me He owes me that much