Willow jerked awake, eyes bleary, head foggy, and unsure exactly where she was. The wall of Ethan’s chest beneath her cheek felt foreign and her body already ached with protest from the unnatural position she’d been lying in.
Another rap on the door, and she realized what had woken her.
Her heart practically propelled out of her chest as she rose to a seated position, grabbing Ethan’s arm and shaking him.
“Ethan, we fell asleep!”
Her stomach churned and she launched off the couch, grabbing her shirt and pacing past it as she yanked it on.
Then she stopped. Why would her mother knock? Maybe Lauren was impatient and Ashlynn hadn’t made it to the door yet. Maybe there was still time for Willow to sneak Ethan out the back door.
“What the…?” Ethan trailed off, groggily scrubbing at his eyes.
“Goddammit,” she hissed, heart racing as she took a step toward the door and then a step back. “The… the kitchen, maybe I can get you out the back door.”
His senses seemed to sharpen as he realized what was happening and bent to grab his jeans off the ground. “Aw, shit. Willow, my car is out front. That’s not going to work.”
“Shit!” She whirled around as he pulled pants on, eyes searching the room as if for an escape route.
More resolved than she was, he said soberly, “We’re just going to have to deal with it. They’re going to find out eventually.”
He didn’t understand, and his calm only enhanced her panic as horrifying scenarios flew through her head and tears burned behind her eyes.
“They’re not going to let me…”
Gaze softening, Ethan said, “Willow, you’re an adult; they can’t stop you.”
“They can. They won’t pay for college, I can’t get financial aid because they make too much money—I’ve already looked into all this! I have to go to college.”
Still calm, Ethan said, “You’re going to go to college.” Then, grasping her by the shoulders, he looked into her eyes. “Calm down. They’re not going to shoot me because that’s illegal; they will be mad, but they will get over it. They’re not going to kick you out or keep you from going to college, and if they try to, I won’t let them.”
Rolling her eyes, still panicky, she said, “Yeah, because if they won’t listen to me, they’re sure to listen to you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. I can’t afford… I’ve already crunched all these numbers when they kept me from you before, I can’t…”
Hooking a finger under her chin and tilting her gaze to meet his, he assured her, “You won’t have to. If it comes down to it, you’ll live with me, I’ll pay your tuition. No one controls you, Willow. They can get mad and they can hate me, but there’s nothing they can do to keep us apart now.”
Torn between tenderness over him wanting to come to her rescue, and anxiety over the situation at hand, Willow stifled the urge to hug him.
Another knock, that one louder, more aggressive.
Willow frowned, unease creeping up her spine.
That didn’t make sense. Why weren’t they letting themselves in? It was late, she could be asleep….
Suddenly her chest tightened, several different scenarios, each more terrifying than the last, bounding through her mind.
“Do you have your gun?” she asked, her voice low and shaky.
Ethan’s eyes went wide, his gaze shooting to the door, then back at her. A moment behind her, she watched realization dawn on his face. “Your parents wouldn’t have to knock.”
“Oh god,” she whispered, old fears creeping to the forefront of her mind.
Pushing her behind him protectively,
he trained his eyes on the door and said quietly but firmly, “Go to the kitchen, use the landline, call the cops.”