Save Me

One - Ethan

f**k. The moment the plane landed I knew I was screwed. f**k. Why had I agreed to come home this summer? I should have stayed put in New York. Flint was bouncing with excitement next to me as we walked through the arrivals lounge towards the exit. The moment he told me he was bringing Isla home to meet his family he had been banging on at me about coming home too. He couldn't get his head around why I hadn't been home in 2 years, and why I had a lack of enthusiasm for coming home now. How could he? He would of f*****g killed me if he knew. I felt my jaw clench as his parents blue 4x4 came into view. f**k.

Flint practically ran out the door, dragging Isla along with him. But I couldn't bring myself to rush. This was a f*****g stupid idea. By the time I made it to the car, Flint was introducing Isla to his parents who greeted her with hugs and smiles. But that was it. Just his parents. As I stopped just behind them, Flint's mum registered my presence.

"Ethan!" she grabbed me into the biggest hug, I dropped the bags and returned the hug. "I had no idea you were coming home too! What a wonderful surprise!" 

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was a last-minute decision." I struggled to find my voice.

"Don't be ridiculous Ethan! Your always welcomed home. With or without Flint..." she paused "You are staying in your old room right." she stepped back from me, but still holding onto my forearms. 

"Well, I was thinking I could grab a room at the motel on Pine..."

"YOU ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT! No, you are coming home. Where you belong. I will not have you paying out for a room in some crappy motel when you still have a room under our roof. And even then, I'll be damned if you think you will be staying anywhere other than home." She was hurt, but also very demanding. No way could I say no to that woman. I should have known.

"Only if your sure mum...I don't want to get in the way, you already have one guess for the summer." Her lips curved into a smile that told me she got exactly what she wanted.

"Ethan, you are family, and now, so is Isla. You know you will always have a place at home with us." 

This woman always knew how to make me feel welcomed, even though I am not her son, even though I leave a path of pain and disruption wherever I go, she always welcomes me home with open arms. So before I can feel the warmth creeping up my cheeks, I grab the luggage.

"I'll load the bags into the boot." and walk to the back of the 4x4. You wouldn't know to look at it, but the 4x4 is a 7 seater with two seats in the boot which fold away. Deciding that I'll sit in the back, away from the love birds, I place Isla and Flint's hand luggage onto a seat in the middle and then fold one of the boot seats down and load in the remaining luggage. I push the last bag into the boot, with ample room when my attention is drawn to Flint shouting.

"f**k THEA!"

Fuck. Where the f**k did she come from? f**k.

I move around the 4x4 and lean against the back passenger door. f**k. I thought I was screwed two years ago, that is nothing to how f*****g screwed I am now. She is the same beautiful Thea, her dark chocolate wavey hair braided down to her waist and dark velvet eyes sparkling in the sunshine. But there is something different about her. She has always been f*****g beautiful, always, but she has this powerful, strong aura about her. She looks f*****g hot. And something about her shouts confidence. Definitely not the Thea I remember. And yet here I stand in f*****g awe of her. f**k.