Now after that you just have to hit me with soft Ethan in Jersey pls 🥺🥺🥺
yes yes the e girls have to eat too here you are my love 🖤
It’s all or nothing when Ethan’s feet hit New Jersey soil. It’s his stomping grounds, his favorite place, he knows it like the back of his hand. So when he gets to show it to someone new, show it to his girl? He’s over the moon.
Needless to say, your days were jam packed. He took you to Lisa’s salon, to his favorite old coffee shop where he used to get hot chocolate on the weekends with his dad. He drove through his old neighborhood, pointed out his old house - you recognized the driveway and yard from some of their old videos. One night he and Grayson took you back to their old middle school, helped you hop the gate so you could lay out in the end zone of the football field they used to play on and watch the sunset. Hikes, the skate park, a day in New York just for kicks - he makes sure you get the whole experience, get to see everything that screams Jersey to him.
You loved adventuring with him, seeing how excited he got to show you parts of his past that you hadn’t gotten to see yet. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t exhausting. By the fifth day you were yawning by 8pm, especially after the pasta that Lisa had made and insisted that everyone had seconds of.
Lucky for you, there was something about a New Jersey evening that got Ethan so soft. Your interest piqued when he told you to wait inside with Lisa and he pulled Grayson out to the backyard without explanation, but you went with it, secretly hoping whatever he had planned wasn’t going to require too much energy.
Ten minutes later Grayson peeked back in the door with a smile.
“I’ve been told to summon the ladies.”
“Oh, no you guys go ahead, I don’t wanna intrude-”
“Ma stop, we’re here to spend time with you. C’mon,” he reassured her, waving the two of you outside. Lisa looked at you and shrugged, both of you laughing as you headed out of the kitchen and to the backyard.
The boys were over in the yard, lounged back in some chairs around the fire they’d worked to build, making you smile. You headed through the grass, watching a few fireflies light up in the woods on your way over. There were four chairs around the fire pit and you headed for the one beside Ethan.
“Ah! Where do you think you’re going?” He was grinning from ear to ear when you turned around to him with wide eyes. He patted his lap twice, almost looking offended that you had considered sitting anywhere else.
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer, you knew that much. It felt a bit awkward to climb into your boyfriends lap, have his hand rest on your hip while his mom was right there. But when you got settled and looked over she was beaming, just happy to see her boy so happy.
It was only a few minutes before the embarrassing childhood stories started, choruses of “oh god” “Ma” and “no, you can’t tell her that one” filling the night air, mixing in with the laughter, the crackling of the fire and the tree frogs song.
Lisa made it to 9:30 before she decided to go in and Gray held out until 10 before he was nodding off and ready for bed. You thought that maybe Ethan would follow suit, but his arms just wrapped around you tighter.
“Finally get you to myself,” he murmured, his cheek resting against your forehead.
“You had me to yourself all day,” you teased, shifting in his lap so you were facing him more fully.
“So...” He lifted a questioning eyebrow at you like it was a stupid statement, making you laugh as his hand found its way under your shirt at your hip, callouses rough on your soft skin. “Can never get enough time with you.”
You leaned in to kiss him, his lips soft and warm as they overtook yours. The kiss was slow, borderline lazy as you just felt each other out, getting closer to the warmth of each other, spurred on by the dwindling fire and the brisk evening air.
“I love having you here.” He barely pulled back when he said it, but he was searching your eyes when you looked up at him.
“On your lap?” You feigned innocence, getting the breathy laugh out of him that you were hoping for.
“Yeah, that too.” He squeezed you against him again for emphasis. “But I meant in Jersey. You know, here with my family.”
“Why?”
“I dunno what it is. I mean, I guess it’s just because I always pictured being in Jersey forever, when I was younger. So when I thought about being in love with somebody, I always pictured it being here. Thought about where I’d take a girl on dates, thought about her hanging out with my family. And now I’m getting to live that out, with you, here and now.”
His words took your breath away - he always found little moments like that, where you got a glimpse into everything that was going on in his head all the time.
“You were thinking about all that when you were in middle school? Before you moved to LA?”
He paused, leaning in to kiss you again instead of answering. His hand traced up your side, up to your cheek so he could hold you for a moment before he pulled away to answer, his words melting your heart.
“Guess you could say I’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time.”
