-Cora-
Andrew and Laylah finally leave, but I can still smell Toby. I wish everyone would just leave us alone, but I know he’s not allowed to.
I’ve been on my knees, my arms wrapped around Ethan’s neck for a while. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say. I’ve known for a while that the way he treated Laylah was an attempt to protect her. It was a terrible plan, but I know he was trying. But this whole time, the way he’s been acting, was an attempt to protect me.
He was protecting me from his mom. He was protecting me from himself. He was protecting me from passing on his genetics. He was protecting me from something I don’t need to be protected from, though.
His arms are wrapped around my waist, his head buried into my neck. The tips of his fingers have slid up the
