Chapter Ten: Snowfall and Confessions
1075 Words
Something changed after Zara caught Ethan laughing.
Not dramatically.
Not loudly.
Just enough that neither of us could pretend anymore.
The tension between us became impossible to ignore after that morning in the kitchen.
Every glance lingered too long.
Every joke carried hidden meaning.
And every time Ethan said my name now, my heartbeat completely lost professionalism.
Which honestly felt inconvenient.
Three days later, New York disappeared beneath a snowstorm.
The city outside the penthouse windows looked frozen in white and silver while jazz music played softly through the living room.
I sat cross-legged on the couch wrapping fairy lights around a tiny Christmas tree Zara had delivered earlier.
Because apparently rich people decorated emotionally too.
Ethan watched me from near the fireplace with quiet amusement.
“You’re taking this very seriously.”
“It’s Christmas.”
“It’s November.”
“Details.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
God.
Those smiles were becoming addictive.
I held up two ornaments dramatically.
“Which one?”
Ethan looked unimpressed. “They’re both stars.”
“Exactly. But one has emotional depth.”
“That sentence physically hurt me.”
I laughed softly while hanging the ornament anyway.
The penthouse felt different lately.
Warmer.
Alive somehow.
Like laughter stayed here longer now.
Like loneliness didn’t completely fill every room anymore.
And maybe the scariest part?
I think Ethan noticed it too.
“You changed this place,” he said suddenly.
I paused.
Then slowly turned toward him.
“What?”
His gaze moved around the penthouse quietly.
“There used to be silence all the time.” His eyes lifted back to mine. “Now you’re everywhere.”
The softness in his voice nearly ruined me emotionally.
I swallowed carefully. “That sounds mildly threatening.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
Dangerous answer.
Very dangerous answer.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Snow drifted softly outside while warm golden light filled the room around us.
And suddenly it hit me all over again—
I was falling for him.
Not slowly anymore.
Not safely either.
Completely.
Terrifyingly.
Because Ethan Blackwood wasn’t just becoming important to me.
He already was.
“You’re staring again,” he murmured.
“I’m thinking.”
“That’s usually dangerous.”
I smiled faintly before standing up from the couch.
“Come here.”
Suspicion crossed his face immediately.
“That sentence has never led to anything good.”
“You’re so dramatic.”
“You make me dramatic.”
I walked behind his wheelchair carefully.
Then slowly guided him toward the giant windows overlooking Manhattan.
The city glowed beneath snowfall and Christmas lights.
Beautiful.
Endless.
Alive.
For a second, Ethan just looked out quietly.
Then his expression softened in a way I rarely saw.
“I forgot how beautiful this city is,” he admitted.
Something twisted warmly inside my chest.
Because moments like this mattered.
Tiny moments.
But real ones.
“You spent too long hiding from it,” I said gently.
His eyes flickered toward me.
“Maybe.”
The room fell quiet again.
Not awkward.
Just full.
Heavy with things neither of us fully knew how to say yet.
I stood beside him now, close enough to feel warmth radiating from his body.
Close enough that my pulse started acting stupid again.
Ethan looked up at me slowly.
And God—
The way he was looking at me tonight felt dangerous.
No sarcasm.
No walls.
Just honesty.
Raw and terrifying.
“You know what scares me about you?” he asked softly.
My breath caught slightly.
“What?”
“You make me want things again.”
The confession hit me directly in the chest.
Hard.
Because Ethan didn’t say things casually.
Every honest word from him felt carefully dragged out of somewhere painful.
I crouched slightly beside him so we were eye level now.
“What kind of things?”
His gaze held mine steadily.
“A future.”
Silence.
My entire heartbeat stopped functioning properly.
Because suddenly this wasn’t teasing anymore.
Wasn’t flirting.
This was real.
Terrifyingly real.
Snow continued falling outside while Manhattan shimmered behind him in blurred lights.
And for one impossible second—
Everything else disappeared.
There was only Ethan.
Only the sadness in his eyes.
Only the softness in his voice.
Only the thing growing uncontrollably between us.
His hand moved slightly against the armrest.
Almost hesitant.
Then slowly—
Carefully—
His fingers brushed against mine.
Tiny contact.
Barely anything.
Still, heat rushed instantly through my chest.
Neither of us pulled away.
My pulse thudded unevenly while his thumb lightly brushed across my fingers once.
Gentle.
Careful.
Like he was afraid this moment might disappear.
“Lily,” he said quietly.
The way he spoke my name made my stomach flip.
“Yeah?”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then softly—
“Thank you.”
Emotion tightened painfully in my chest.
“For what?”
“For making me feel alive again.”
The honesty nearly broke me.
Because for the first time since meeting Ethan, I realized something important.
He wasn’t just changing because of me.
I was changing because of him too.
Becoming braver.
Softer.
Hopeful in ways I hadn’t been for years.
And suddenly I understood why love terrified people so much.
Because once someone became part of your happiness—
You risked losing them.
The thought scared me enough that I looked away first.
Huge mistake.
Because Ethan’s fingers tightened gently around mine.
“Hey.”
I looked back at him.
His expression softened instantly.
“What’s wrong?”
I laughed nervously. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m thinking too much.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
A tiny smile appeared on his face again.
Then quietly:
“Come sit with me.”
My heartbeat immediately lost control.
Dangerous sentence.
Very dangerous sentence.
Still—
I sat beside him near the windows while snow covered New York outside like something from a movie.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
We just watched the city together.
Comfortable silence.
Warm silence.
And somehow that felt even more intimate than words.
Then Ethan broke the quiet softly.
“You know what the problem is?”
“What?”
“I don’t think I know how to stop wanting you around anymore.”
My breath caught completely.
Because the terrifying thing?
I didn’t want him to stop.
- Writer
