Ethan/Kristina, Near To You (5/10)
Author: sarahbell05
Fandom: General Hospital
Characters/Pairing: Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis, hint of Ethan/Maya Ward
Table: Relationship
Prompt: Betrayal
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse and underage sex.
Warnings: Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.
Word Count: 1948
Summary: The morning after, Ethan makes a mistake.
Notes: Bet you never saw this coming huh? lol I cannot apologize enough for how long this took. RL took over everything and then I had major writer's block. But we're back on track now! I also apologize where this chapter is taking our beloved Krithan, but I promise I believe in happy endings!
Betrayal
As he wakes, Ethan is thrown by the warm weight on his side. He cracks open an eye and all he can see is a mass of brown hair resting on his shoulder. As his brain catches up, memories of the previous night come flooding back.
They had quickly made their way from the living room to Kristina's bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing behind them. For him, it had been a blur and yet he remembered every second of it. Every touch, every kiss, every soft sigh that had come from his best friend as they'd made love, it was all deeply ingrained in his memory. Ethan had been with a lot of women in his life, but this had been different from anything he had ever experienced.
His musings are interrupted when Krissy moves beside him, her grip on his waist tightening. With the arm that is not underneath her head, he pushes her hair back enough so that he can see her face. She looks calm, in a way he had never seen her. In her sleep, she looks even younger and this is when reality comes crashing around Ethan. No matter what they felt for each other, the truth was that Kristina was little more than a child. It had been wrong - Ethan had known this from the moment he'd kissed her - and he never should have allowed it to escalate to this. Kristina had been through hell with her sister mere hours ago, and he'd taken advantage of that.
Carefully, he untangled himself from Kristina, thanking the various deities that she didn't wake up. He followed the clothing trail until he had picked up everything, slipping on his clothes and folding hers neatly before setting them on her dresser. He took one last look at her sleeping form before leaving the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the walk back to his flat, Ethan's mind whirled. The quiet Port Charles streets were a striking contrast to the turmoil he felt inside. He knew he was at least half in love with Kristina, but he also was aware of all the ways this situation was bad. She was a young, beautiful girl with a bright future ahead of her, while he was a two-bit con man destined to spend his life bartending or some other dead end job until one of his schemes went wrong. Her mother, no matter how much she and Ethan had grown to accept each other, was still a former DA and would crucify him if she ever found out.
As he ran through his thoughts, he failed to register that his feet had changed direction of their own accord, and he soon found himself in front of Lulu's apartment building. From the street he could see the light coming from Lulu's apartment so he entered the building and quickly found himself in front of her door.
He knocked lightly, knowing Maxie and Spinelli were probably still asleep, and was surprised when Dante answered the door.
"Hey, Ethan. What's up?" Dante greeted, stepping out of the doorway to allow him entrance.
"I was hoping to speak to Lulu. Is she awake?" he replied.
"No, it's her day off so she's sleeping in." Dante replied, closing the door after Ethan had entered. "I have to go into the station today." he added, explaining why he was awake.
"Oh, well then, I'll just go then -" Ethan started, but was quickly cut off by Dante.
"Hey man, you left Jake's so suddenly. What's up with you?" Ethan hadn't had many conversations with the undercover cop, and this seemed like an odd time to 'bond', so Ethan remained silent.
However, he was taken aback when a few moments later Dante asked "Is this about Kristina?"
Ethan's eyes widened and he froze on the spot. Was he really that obvious? Before he could respond, Dante continued.
"I'm sorry if I'm breaking some 'boyfriend of the little sister talking to the brother' rule, but, well...Lulu likes to talk."
Ethan couldn't fight the sigh that escaped him. He loved his sister, but she knew how to cause trouble. Telling the brother of the underage girl he may or may not have feelings for about said feelings, when the brother is a cop was bound to cause trouble.
"Ethan, I'm not one to judge, and it was pretty obvious there was something going on at dinner last night." Dante said, and sometimes he wished the cop wasn't so damn observant. Or that he wasn't so obvious.
Ethan collapsed onto the couch, his face hidden in his hands. He heard Dante sink into the chair next to the couch. It was odd to talk about this with someone who was both his sister's boyfriend and Kristina's brother, but there really wasn't anyone else and he knew Dante would be honest with him.
"I'm not sure." he finally said after a few moments. "It's...I mean, I'm not sure what I feel. She's my best friend, as odd as it sounds. She's so young and has so much potential. She's beautiful and smart. She's funny, and witty, and...even if I did have....those kind of feelings for her, she deserves better."
Dante remained silent, and Ethan looked up to see him staring hard at Ethan. For a moment, Ethan was sure the cop was going to either pound his face in or shoot him. Probably both.
"Lulu was right." Dante said and shook his head. Ethan raised an eyebrow as Dante began to laugh.
"I thought she was reading too much into stuff, trying to see something that wasn't there." he continued through his laughs. "But she wasn't. You're in love with Kristina, Ethan."
Ethan didn't respond, just stared into space. It was as if everything they had been through over the last year was falling into place. Him "saving" her from Kiefer, their budding friendship, Christmas, the unspoken attraction...everything had been leading them to this moment.
He pushed himself off the couch and practically ran for the door. He threw it open and left without a word. He could hear Dante calling after him, but Ethan just needed out of that apartment, out of that building, out of everything as fast as he could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the afternoon, Ethan had found himself in the park. He wandered through it aimlessly, trying not to think of what had transpired over the last twenty four hours. Even with Rebecca, the first woman he had thought himself truly "in love" with, it had never felt like this. During their trysts, she had never made Ethan feel the way Kristina had, and that feeling scared him more than anything. He had never stuck around a place long enough to form any lasting connections, and that had been the way he preferred things.
His train of thought was cut off by a familiar shape appearing as he turned a corner. He had known Maya for a few months now, since her arrival in Port Charles. Despite their rocky start, they had formed a fairly civil relationship, thanks to their family ties. He rarely saw the young doctor, but he decided a distraction was in order.
"Good afternoon Maya." he greeted, and the woman turned around at his voice and gave him a small smile.
"Hello Ethan. What are you doing here?" she asked, motioning around. Ethan followed her hand and noticed that he had entered the jogging trail area. He supposed that was why Maya was dressed in trackies and sneakers.
"Oh, I was just...um, wandering." he replied, feeling stupid immediately. Maya simply raised an eyebrow and let it go.
"Ok, well, judging by your attire you're not planning on jogging." she quipped, and Ethan rolled his eyes. Something about his disheveled and tired look seemed to catch Maya's attention though, because she grabbed the bag she had left on the ground and grabbed his arm.
"Come on, you look hungry." she said, steering him out of the park. "Let's have a burger on me." Ethan just nodded and let the Quartermaine woman lead her to Kelly's.
When they arrived, however, Ethan found he couldn't enter the place that reminded him so much of Kristina.
"Can we get it to go?" he asked, feeling extremely pathetic but letting it go. Maya nodded and left him outside while she got their orders. He checked his phone for the five hundredth time that day, but there were still no missed calls or texts. He told himself that was a good thing, but his body was saying something completely different.
A few minutes later Maya came back outside, two brown bags in her hands.
"So," she said, holding up the bags and smirking. "Your place or mine?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The knock on Ethan's door knocks him out of the dead stupor he had been in. He didn't particularly remember falling asleep on the bed, but then again he didn't remember much after the seventh beer and sixth shot. How he and Maya had decided that getting quite that smashed had been a good idea, he'd never know.
the knock came again and Ethan fell rather ungracefully out of the bed, pushing himself off of the floor with a groan before heading toward the source of his disturbance. He was halfway to the door before he realized he was clad only in his boxers. He moved to the coffee table and grabbed his jeans (just how had they gotten there anyway?) and pulled them on before opening the door.
In his post-alcohol mind, he hadn't bothered to wonder who was at the door, so he was more than a little confused when he opened the door to reveal Kristina. He saw her eyes widen when she saw him, and it was then that he realized he'd also forgotten a shirt. A moment later she shook her head and seemed to regain her composure.
"I...I,um...came to see how you were." she said, looking anywhere but at him.
Ethan's mind was starting to catch up with his body, but before he could respond Kristina spoke again.
"It's just...well, you just left without saying anything and I wanted to apologize because I know you were just trying to be nice and I pushed things too far and...."
As she trailed off her eyes went over his shouulder and Ethan followed her gaze, finding Maya standing in his hallway in his shirt from the night before. Flashes of the night before came rushing back and Ethan whipped his head back around to Krissy, his eyes wide with panic.
"It's...it's not what it looks like Krissy."
At this Kristina returned her eyes to Ethan, and he felt as if he had been punched in the gut when he saw the unshed tears there.
"No, um...don't...don't worry about it. Uh, I'm gonna go." she whispered the last part and was gone before Ethan could even think about saying anything else.
"Was that Kristina Davis?" Maya asked as Ethan shut the door. He nodded, and obviously there was something written on his face because Maya suddenly looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
She disappeared into the bathroom then, reemerging a few minutes later dressed in her workout clothes from the day before. Ethan hadn't moved from his spot by the door and didn't even register Maya's presence in front of him until she placed a warm hand on his cheek.
"I'm not sure what's going on, but I hope you decide what you want soon Ethan." she said, and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek before leaving the apartment, leaving Ethan alone in the silence.
What had he done?
Fandom: General Hospital
Characters/Pairing: Ethan Lovett/Kristina Davis, hint of Ethan/Maya Ward
Table: Relationship
Prompt: Betrayal
Rating: PG-13 for mentions of domestic abuse and underage sex.
Warnings: Kristina is 17 and Ethan is in his early twenties.
Word Count: 1948
Summary: The morning after, Ethan makes a mistake.
Notes: Bet you never saw this coming huh? lol I cannot apologize enough for how long this took. RL took over everything and then I had major writer's block. But we're back on track now! I also apologize where this chapter is taking our beloved Krithan, but I promise I believe in happy endings!
Betrayal
As he wakes, Ethan is thrown by the warm weight on his side. He cracks open an eye and all he can see is a mass of brown hair resting on his shoulder. As his brain catches up, memories of the previous night come flooding back.
They had quickly made their way from the living room to Kristina's bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing behind them. For him, it had been a blur and yet he remembered every second of it. Every touch, every kiss, every soft sigh that had come from his best friend as they'd made love, it was all deeply ingrained in his memory. Ethan had been with a lot of women in his life, but this had been different from anything he had ever experienced.
His musings are interrupted when Krissy moves beside him, her grip on his waist tightening. With the arm that is not underneath her head, he pushes her hair back enough so that he can see her face. She looks calm, in a way he had never seen her. In her sleep, she looks even younger and this is when reality comes crashing around Ethan. No matter what they felt for each other, the truth was that Kristina was little more than a child. It had been wrong - Ethan had known this from the moment he'd kissed her - and he never should have allowed it to escalate to this. Kristina had been through hell with her sister mere hours ago, and he'd taken advantage of that.
Carefully, he untangled himself from Kristina, thanking the various deities that she didn't wake up. He followed the clothing trail until he had picked up everything, slipping on his clothes and folding hers neatly before setting them on her dresser. He took one last look at her sleeping form before leaving the house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
During the walk back to his flat, Ethan's mind whirled. The quiet Port Charles streets were a striking contrast to the turmoil he felt inside. He knew he was at least half in love with Kristina, but he also was aware of all the ways this situation was bad. She was a young, beautiful girl with a bright future ahead of her, while he was a two-bit con man destined to spend his life bartending or some other dead end job until one of his schemes went wrong. Her mother, no matter how much she and Ethan had grown to accept each other, was still a former DA and would crucify him if she ever found out.
As he ran through his thoughts, he failed to register that his feet had changed direction of their own accord, and he soon found himself in front of Lulu's apartment building. From the street he could see the light coming from Lulu's apartment so he entered the building and quickly found himself in front of her door.
He knocked lightly, knowing Maxie and Spinelli were probably still asleep, and was surprised when Dante answered the door.
"Hey, Ethan. What's up?" Dante greeted, stepping out of the doorway to allow him entrance.
"I was hoping to speak to Lulu. Is she awake?" he replied.
"No, it's her day off so she's sleeping in." Dante replied, closing the door after Ethan had entered. "I have to go into the station today." he added, explaining why he was awake.
"Oh, well then, I'll just go then -" Ethan started, but was quickly cut off by Dante.
"Hey man, you left Jake's so suddenly. What's up with you?" Ethan hadn't had many conversations with the undercover cop, and this seemed like an odd time to 'bond', so Ethan remained silent.
However, he was taken aback when a few moments later Dante asked "Is this about Kristina?"
Ethan's eyes widened and he froze on the spot. Was he really that obvious? Before he could respond, Dante continued.
"I'm sorry if I'm breaking some 'boyfriend of the little sister talking to the brother' rule, but, well...Lulu likes to talk."
Ethan couldn't fight the sigh that escaped him. He loved his sister, but she knew how to cause trouble. Telling the brother of the underage girl he may or may not have feelings for about said feelings, when the brother is a cop was bound to cause trouble.
"Ethan, I'm not one to judge, and it was pretty obvious there was something going on at dinner last night." Dante said, and sometimes he wished the cop wasn't so damn observant. Or that he wasn't so obvious.
Ethan collapsed onto the couch, his face hidden in his hands. He heard Dante sink into the chair next to the couch. It was odd to talk about this with someone who was both his sister's boyfriend and Kristina's brother, but there really wasn't anyone else and he knew Dante would be honest with him.
"I'm not sure." he finally said after a few moments. "It's...I mean, I'm not sure what I feel. She's my best friend, as odd as it sounds. She's so young and has so much potential. She's beautiful and smart. She's funny, and witty, and...even if I did have....those kind of feelings for her, she deserves better."
Dante remained silent, and Ethan looked up to see him staring hard at Ethan. For a moment, Ethan was sure the cop was going to either pound his face in or shoot him. Probably both.
"Lulu was right." Dante said and shook his head. Ethan raised an eyebrow as Dante began to laugh.
"I thought she was reading too much into stuff, trying to see something that wasn't there." he continued through his laughs. "But she wasn't. You're in love with Kristina, Ethan."
Ethan didn't respond, just stared into space. It was as if everything they had been through over the last year was falling into place. Him "saving" her from Kiefer, their budding friendship, Christmas, the unspoken attraction...everything had been leading them to this moment.
He pushed himself off the couch and practically ran for the door. He threw it open and left without a word. He could hear Dante calling after him, but Ethan just needed out of that apartment, out of that building, out of everything as fast as he could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the afternoon, Ethan had found himself in the park. He wandered through it aimlessly, trying not to think of what had transpired over the last twenty four hours. Even with Rebecca, the first woman he had thought himself truly "in love" with, it had never felt like this. During their trysts, she had never made Ethan feel the way Kristina had, and that feeling scared him more than anything. He had never stuck around a place long enough to form any lasting connections, and that had been the way he preferred things.
His train of thought was cut off by a familiar shape appearing as he turned a corner. He had known Maya for a few months now, since her arrival in Port Charles. Despite their rocky start, they had formed a fairly civil relationship, thanks to their family ties. He rarely saw the young doctor, but he decided a distraction was in order.
"Good afternoon Maya." he greeted, and the woman turned around at his voice and gave him a small smile.
"Hello Ethan. What are you doing here?" she asked, motioning around. Ethan followed her hand and noticed that he had entered the jogging trail area. He supposed that was why Maya was dressed in trackies and sneakers.
"Oh, I was just...um, wandering." he replied, feeling stupid immediately. Maya simply raised an eyebrow and let it go.
"Ok, well, judging by your attire you're not planning on jogging." she quipped, and Ethan rolled his eyes. Something about his disheveled and tired look seemed to catch Maya's attention though, because she grabbed the bag she had left on the ground and grabbed his arm.
"Come on, you look hungry." she said, steering him out of the park. "Let's have a burger on me." Ethan just nodded and let the Quartermaine woman lead her to Kelly's.
When they arrived, however, Ethan found he couldn't enter the place that reminded him so much of Kristina.
"Can we get it to go?" he asked, feeling extremely pathetic but letting it go. Maya nodded and left him outside while she got their orders. He checked his phone for the five hundredth time that day, but there were still no missed calls or texts. He told himself that was a good thing, but his body was saying something completely different.
A few minutes later Maya came back outside, two brown bags in her hands.
"So," she said, holding up the bags and smirking. "Your place or mine?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The knock on Ethan's door knocks him out of the dead stupor he had been in. He didn't particularly remember falling asleep on the bed, but then again he didn't remember much after the seventh beer and sixth shot. How he and Maya had decided that getting quite that smashed had been a good idea, he'd never know.
the knock came again and Ethan fell rather ungracefully out of the bed, pushing himself off of the floor with a groan before heading toward the source of his disturbance. He was halfway to the door before he realized he was clad only in his boxers. He moved to the coffee table and grabbed his jeans (just how had they gotten there anyway?) and pulled them on before opening the door.
In his post-alcohol mind, he hadn't bothered to wonder who was at the door, so he was more than a little confused when he opened the door to reveal Kristina. He saw her eyes widen when she saw him, and it was then that he realized he'd also forgotten a shirt. A moment later she shook her head and seemed to regain her composure.
"I...I,um...came to see how you were." she said, looking anywhere but at him.
Ethan's mind was starting to catch up with his body, but before he could respond Kristina spoke again.
"It's just...well, you just left without saying anything and I wanted to apologize because I know you were just trying to be nice and I pushed things too far and...."
As she trailed off her eyes went over his shouulder and Ethan followed her gaze, finding Maya standing in his hallway in his shirt from the night before. Flashes of the night before came rushing back and Ethan whipped his head back around to Krissy, his eyes wide with panic.
"It's...it's not what it looks like Krissy."
At this Kristina returned her eyes to Ethan, and he felt as if he had been punched in the gut when he saw the unshed tears there.
"No, um...don't...don't worry about it. Uh, I'm gonna go." she whispered the last part and was gone before Ethan could even think about saying anything else.
"Was that Kristina Davis?" Maya asked as Ethan shut the door. He nodded, and obviously there was something written on his face because Maya suddenly looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
She disappeared into the bathroom then, reemerging a few minutes later dressed in her workout clothes from the day before. Ethan hadn't moved from his spot by the door and didn't even register Maya's presence in front of him until she placed a warm hand on his cheek.
"I'm not sure what's going on, but I hope you decide what you want soon Ethan." she said, and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek before leaving the apartment, leaving Ethan alone in the silence.
What had he done?