Something I need

Sunday, her and the boys had been with their grandparents out and feed the ducks and play in the park for hours, and when it finally was time to get home they had begged to stay over by the grandparents’ house, for her it was fine as she was due a nightshift in two nights which meant she had to go start turning her routines, it was like she was talking to deaf ears when she had begged not to get these shifts anymore, as she needed to be able to be there for her boys more, and those nights always turned everything around, at least she didn’t get so many anymore. Which was both good and bad.

So, as it knocked on her door, she was eating B&J and watching breakfast at tiffany’s, who was here this late? She took a scoop of ice, standing up with the spoon still in her mouth, as she walked too door, it wasn’t one of those fancy look through a peephole kind of doors, but this was a quiet neighborhood so she didn’t really think twice when she opened the door, could be Ce that needed a pick me up, she often came without texting first, even as she would have just walked in. Then again, it was late.

“Ethan” her eyes looked with pure disbelief as she took him in, what was he doing here? She had tried to call, text him just let him know she was there if he needed to talk. But that he would actually just show up like this? “I’m so glad you’re here” she finally got out and put her arms around him pulling him towards her tiny body.

It broke her heart, not the fact it had taken him long to say that he was sorry, not the fact that he had yelled and tried to take his frustrations out on her. Of course, if Cecilia hadn’t come back, things had been much worse but still, she wasn’t mad at him, far from it actually. “All is forgiven” she said almost immediately, as he told her that he was sorry and he hadn’t mean to, she knew that – maybe that was the main reason she couldn’t find it in her heart to be mad at him, not even a little. “You were there when I needed help, let me be here now” she whispered back, letting her arms grab around his body a little stronger, just to let him know that she was here, that she wasn’t going anywhere, as she slowly let go again. “Come in, I’ll make some tea” she said with a warm voice, as her hand slowly glided over his chin to wipe away some of the tears that had escaped “What have you done to your face?” the porch was almost not lit, so in the start she hadn’t seen it, but as her eyes slowly got used to the darkness she could she small cuts here and there. “Are you hurt, what on earth did you do?” she mumbled, as her fingers and eyes started inspecting his body for more scares, totally forgetting the fact that she was about to make him some tea, and invite him in.

She had to close her eyes, as he said he had been in a fight, of course he had. Even as she wanted to reprimand him for going of like that, she couldn’t really blame him – two of the most important persons had gone missing, and he was a person who always took his friends world of problems on his own shoulders. He might be strong, but not that strong to carry such a heavy load alone. She moved so he could come in, and as he closed the door she just stood there for a while and then shook her head; “Ethan you idiot” she said with a sad smile, before she turned around walking into the kitchen, turned on the light and started finding things in her very clean and organized kitchen. It was kind of funny, people who knew Evelina also knew that she had kind of a messy approach to how she cleaned up and kept her things. Her desk at the police station was covered in stuff, post-it-notes and what not. No one but her would know where to find things, but in here where she was making her grandmother proud by cooking and what not, everything had their place, and nothing should be out of order.

She opened the top cabinet with a beautiful raw three look, like the rest of the room. Only the countertops were made by concrete and the big sink was of steel. “Any preferences for tea?” she asked, and turned towards him, as she put water in the kettle and plugged it into the socket so it could start warming up the water. “Or would you rather have something stronger?” her brows knitted together, as she could se the scars in his face better now. “And maybe some antiseptic for that face of yours” she chuckled a little flabbergasted.

Tea with vodka maybe? She scuffed, but behind her small exasperation there was a smile on her lips and a warmth behind the sound that had left her throat. She couldn’t stay mad at Ethan, not when she knew how much he was going through, not only with Maeve being taken but his sister too. Then there was the whole thing about him having a power that he couldn’t always control, living in a city with so much darkness, hatred, self-pity. She could go on. But she understood, not that it made how he acted alright. But it made it easier for her to forgive.
“I do you one better, I’ll make you a rom toddy” she said with a smile and pulled down some white rom and found a couple of lemons. She clearly knew this drink by heart and started with find a pitcher she could pour the freshly squeezed lemon juice in. She found sugar, put it in two cups gave a generous splash of the rom, and poured lemon juice in before she topped it off with the warm water.
“One for the pain, now sit down” she said and pushed him towards the small seating area she had in the kitchen. It was clear that she wasn't going to give him a choice in the matter. She had heard what he had said about Zitora, but right now she wanted to take care of the cuts, even as he had said that he deserved them. He didn’t, no matter of how little he thought of himself. She came back with antiseptic and clean cloths that was dipped in warm water.
She started finding the small glass in his cheekbone and started pulling them out with a twicer putting them down on a paper towel. “I know that you think you have ruin everything, just because you don’t know what to do with yourself these days.” She said with a small sigh “but that doesn’t mean that you can push us away just like that, and I’m sure that Zitora will still be there when you talk to her next time” she didn’t know Zitora that well, but she knew enough that the woman didn’t just dismiss her friends, even if they were total assholes. “It’s going to get better again Ethan” she finally looked him in the eye and smiled a soft smile while letting her fingers glide over his cheek to see if she could find more splinters.