Part 25

The sky was pitch black, the stars clearly visible in the night sky. I sat leaned back on one of the lounge chairs, watching the stars painted in the black above me.

"Looking at the stars again?" I whipped my head at Ethans voice , a smile painting across my face."Yeah." I nodded, keeping eye contact for a few more seconds before turning my gace back at the stars.

The vibe had calmed a bit - the garden was pretty quiet now besides some light conversations flowing at the tabel on the patio . Laugher shoting through the air sometimes. I had kept my my distance, sitting alone on the lounge chairs on the other side of the garden until now.

Ethan settled onto the other lounge chair beside me. He kept shaking his leg up and down like he wanted to say something but was to nervousto do so. "Whats up ?" I said, turning my head away from the strs again to look at him.

"Theo and I are heading off soon. I have to be back in San Francisco by tomorrow afternoon. " He said, letting out a deep breath. Ethan sounded like it pained him to say these words like he didn't want to go. And to be honest, I didn't want him to eighter .

"Oh, ok." To be honest, I didn't know how to react to his words. His leg stared, shaking again, and he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees , his hands folding together.  "If  I'm being honest. I dont want to go. I dont want to leave you, maybe even us behind ." He finally said, letting out the words that had been resting on his tongue ever since he came over.

"I don't want you to leave eighter. " I confessed.

His eyes met mine as the words left my mouth. They just stayed there for a second before a smile spread across his face. We both stayed quiet, just letting a comfortable silence surround us. We didn't have to say more. We both knew what the other thought.  We both wanted the other person to stay - to see where this was going between us.

But in reality, we also knew that at least right now was not the time for us. We had totally different lives in different cities .

I let out a sigh. Time was a cruel thing. If we had met earlier or later, maybe this would have worked but right know I was busy with college and he just wasn't mentally ready.

"Ethan, are you coming?" Theos voice called through the garden. Ethan didn't answer. Instead, he let his head fall forward in a grown."Yeah, I'll be there in a second." He called back before his eyes landed back on me.

His facial expression now softer. He just looked at me without saying a word , then he leaned in close. I cold feel his warm breath against my skin. But he didn't kiss me just yet, just lingering a few centimeters away from me. Ethan gave me this look like he was asking for permission first. And who would I be if I would deny it. I nooded my head slowly before closing the gap between us.

The kiss was slow at first , a little uncertain, but it soon turned into a heated, intense one. His hand found my cheek cupping it, while the other one found my waste.  He pulled me closer, making me slipp of my lounge chair and onto his lap.

We didn't care that the others could probably see us. I internally hoped that we were too far gone in the darkness, but at the same time, I didn't care. I needed this - I needed this bad. My hands found their way into his brown hair, slightly pulling on it.

"Ethan!" Theos voice made us pull apart suddenly brought back into reality. "I'm coming," he yelled back but stayed with his hands put on my waist." You should probably go." I breathed, still flustered from the kiss.

"Yeah, I probably should." I slowly got off his lap, pulling him up with me." Valerie." His voice barely above a whisper. I nodded, signaling him that I was listening. " Text me ok, and maybe we could meet up sometime. " he suggested. I simply nooded.

" And most of all , I dont expect you to wait up for me, and I also don't want you to. If I'm ready for a relationship again and you're still single, we try again. But if you're taken by now -which honestly I aspect because damn Valerie you are perfect - then that's fine, ok?"

" Okay," I breathed out. I know he could hear the sadness in my voice, so he pulled me in for a hug.

"See you again, Valerie. " He said, pulling away.

"See you again, Ethan." With that, he walked past me and left with Theo.

I stayed where I was - now alone.  I sighted and rubbed my hand over my temples before turning around to join the others at the table. Just now, I realized how little people were still here.

Claudia sat put in Finneas lap, next to them was Billie - men spreading as always and on the opposite side were Quen ,Chris, and Grace. Everyone else had apparently left already.

Unfortunately, the only seat left was the one next to Billie, of course. So I walked over to Grace first."Hey Vai. Are you ok?" She asked . The second part was a bit quieter, so only I could hear her." Yeah, just a little sad that Ethan left."

"Aw. You poor thing, " She said , pitty in her voice. I took a deep breath before shrugging my shoulders. I didn't want to show how much him leaving affected me. It was almost 1 a.m., and I could feel the tiredness slowly creep in. I just made my way over to the empty seat , flopping down beside Billie, leaning froward resting my head on my hand.

"You good?" Billies voice startled me. My head whipped over in Billies direction, and she was already looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine ." I shrugged her off.            " That's a lie," She said, leaning a bit more  in my direction so that her words felt more intimate and more cut off from the rest of the group. "Well, what if it is. Why do you care?" I said, leaning back in my chair. Maybe my voice felt a little more annoyed than intended, but I didn't care. I was just exhausted. As good as the entire weekend at Coachella had been , it had also been really exhausting.

I could feel it my bones now.They were aching, the same as my feet, which still suffered from blisters.

Billie stayed quiet, leaning back in her chair, turning her attention back to Claudia telling a story about who she and Finneas bummed into Tyler, the creator, today. But I tuned it all out. Resting my head on the tabel drowning in self-pity and exhaustion.

A.NIt's a little longer chapter again.I know it was a lot of Ethan and not too much Billie, but it's part of the plot, so yeah.(Also I have school tomorrow again and I really don't want to:(,  )