Chapter 130: Control
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3rd Person POV
Ethan stood in front of his mirror, the soft lamplight spilling across his bedroom and casting a warm glow on the mess scattered across the floor — discarded shirts, belts, one lone shoe he still couldn’t find the pair to. He normally didn’t care about parties like this. In fact, he hated them. Jace’s parties were always filled with self-entitled jerks, cliques that fed on gossip, and people who treated popularity like a currency.
But tonight felt different, because Noah would be there.
He tugged the hem of his black sweater into place, smoothing out the creases. He’d chosen it after cycling through almost everything he owned. Not too flashy. Not too plain. Something that would make Noah’s eyes linger on him the way he sometimes did before looking away shyly.
He muttered to himself as he tried fixing his hair again, "Why am I even trying this hard? It’s Jace’s stupid party."
Then he paused, hands braced against the edge of his dresser. Right, because Noah deserved someone who tried to look good for him.
Even if he wasn’t fond of the people throwing the party, even if he could barely tolerate the thought of being in the same room as Adrien Fell’s friends, he was going for Noah. To make sure s
he didn’t get hurt. To be near him. To maybe — hopefully, remind him why she’d picked Ethan in the first place.
He exhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair again until it finally sat the way he wanted.
He’d told himself he understood why Noah left him behind at the cliff... but that didn’t stop the sting. The scene kept replaying in his mind, his lips still swollen from kissing Ethan, the way his voice shook when he apologized, and then him running after Adrien like he was the one who mattered.
Ethan swallowed hard, jaw flexing.