Chapter Text
They were 17 and living together until further notice. Lex was planning to go back to the trailer within the next few days, but then the virus happened. The schools shut down that Friday and soon enough the stay at home order was enforced.
Once the school was called out, that afternoon when Lex, Ethan, and Hannah got back to his Uncle's house, he was ordering them all back into the bunker. Lex was panicked which made Hannah panic, but Ethan grabbed their hands, “It’s fine. He does this whenever there’s a bad flu season. He just likes to be safe and all,” This seemed to calm them down, at least a little because Hannah’s grip on his hand loosened and Lex intertwined their fingers like usual.
Their relationship was complicated. They weren’t quite dating, because she didn’t want to get too serious, but they spent most of their time together. And they slept in the same bed when she was at his uncles, which was nice. He just wanted to be more, he really really liked her, but the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable when they had to stay together in a fucking bunker for god knows how long.
When they walked into the bunker the air smelt like lavender and there were masks and gloves in a little box which Hidgens went on a long lecture about. Ethan was more focused on trying to make Lex laugh by poking her side. She looked at him, covering her mouth so Hidgens wouldn’t hear, “Can you fucking quit it?” He just furrowed his eyebrows as if he had no clue what she was talking about.
She elbowed him in the stomach and he coughed to cover it, apparently too loud because his uncle snapped in his face, “Hey, lovebirds. We’re in a global pandemic, not the time to flirt.” She glared daggers at him, her face flushed while Ethan chuckled and waved him on to continue, still leaning over slightly. He explained the house rules, (Change your clothes after you leave, wash your hands for 20 seconds at least, leave your masks next to the bin after you wear them so they can be washed, e.t.c). “We’ve got 4 bedrooms, so I’m assuming the happy couple is in one, Banana in another, and then Ollie and I in the other two?” Lex rolled her eyes and Ethan laughed again. He liked that he was comfortable enough to joke around with her and that she was comfortable enough with him to not be so defensive or fake laugh anymore.
She leaned around him to look at her sister who beamed, she really liked having her own room. Although sometimes she’d run into his room and worm in between the two and they’d stay like that until she fell asleep.
Henry sent them all off to get settled and Hannah fell asleep while she was “testing the bed”. The other two were talking while he put his clothes into drawers. “Shit.” She fell back onto the bed, with her “older than God himself” phone next to her.
“What’s up buttercup?” She tilted her head up to look at him and he smiled sheepishly before sitting down on the bed next to her, “Sorry. What’s wrong?”
“Frank said that we can’t go to work until further notice. So basically I’m laid off just without unemployment.”
He combed his fingers through her hair and she leaned into his hand, “I’m sorry. That sucks, but at least you don’t got nothing to pay for so it’s not like the end of the world, ya know?”
“Yeah, I've just been trying to pay your uncle back for rent and utilities and shit, and now I can’t do it until I’m back at work.” Ethan laughed and she smacked his thigh, “What the fucks no funny about me being broke?”
He put his hand on top of hers, “No, it’s not that. When are you gonna give it up? He’s not gonna take your money babe, he barely lets me pay him back for gas.”
Lex groaned and fell even deeper into the mattress, he joined her and fell back onto the mattress which made her laugh. They talked like that for a little while until she pulled him in for a kiss. It was very different, it was a quick, innocent kiss, quite the contrast from their usual kisses, which were needy and usually followed by roaming hands. He smiled at her, rubbing her cheek with his thumb after they broke apart, “What?” He furrowed his eyebrows at her, “You’re looking at me funny,”
“Oh sorry,” She looked at him for an explanation, “You just have something on your lip,”
She wiped her bottom lip a few times, “Did I get it?”
He shook his head, a smile present on his face, “Nah. Just- Here, let me get it.” He pulled her in for another kiss. She laughed into it, saying “dork”, but it came out muffled by their lips.
Later that week, Oliver was in his room, playing some dumb video game that Ethan was trying to distract him from. “Ollie! Dude, there’s a fuckin rat in here!”
He whipped his head around and died in his game, “I hate you.” Although Oliver was only 3 years younger, Ethan’s favorite past-time was to annoy him. It was usually just at home. The younger of the two didn’t want him to interact with each other at school. He claimed that Ethan would “cramp his style”, to which he snorted and replied ‘What style?’. He groaned as the console’s screen faded to black, “Go hang out with your girlfriend or something. Don’t you have like 9 years of homework to catch up on?”
“1. She’s not my girlfriend. 2. School’s out, kiddo! I’m a free bird.” He cawed like an eagle, but Oliver turned around stone-faced, “Gee, rough crowd,”
“Just ask her out already, how hard is it? Also, I’d hate to be the one to break it to you, but school is back in approximately 2 weeks. It’s literally the perfect time to catch up. If you fail another class they’ll probably hold you back this time.”
Ethan scoffed, “‘How hard is it?’” He repeated in a mocking voice, “Tell that to Grace Chastity, Ollie. Yeah, that’s right, shut up. Thank the lord I have a sweet, lovely, nerdy cousin to help me out with that, right? Because I doubt you’d want me even closer to you next year.”
He groaned, “Don't bring Grace into this. The difference is Grace and I aren’t… you know. Isn’t that supposed to mean something? You sure look at her like it does. I mean, Jesus-“
“You’re on thin ice, kid. Say another word and I'll tape your mouth, again,”
Oliver put his hands up in defense, “I’m just saying! Anyways, I will help you with some of your work. I’m not doing it for you this time. I’m barely keeping my own GPA up, I can’t carry yours on my back too,”
Ethan ruffled up his hair, “I’m not asking you to carry shit, we both know you ain’t got the upper body strength for that.” Oliver slapped his hands away, “I just need a little help on the reading stuff. You know, I’m not too good at that stuff.”
“I’ll help you out, but can you please get out of my room? I’m trying to get on the leaderboards,” Ethan gave a two-fingered salute before marching out of the room and sitting on a kitchen stool instead. He found his uncle watching the news, “Hey, Hen. How’s everything goin’”
He didn’t even look up, his eyes were glued to the number of cases going up on the news screen, “Well, besides the global pandemic, it’s going pretty nicely.” He sighed before walking to stand behind the counter across from Ethan, “Lex and Hannah are adjusting well, yes?”
He nodded, grabbing an apple and rubbing it against his jacket to shine it, “Yeah. Hannah really likes the bed in her room and she has webby, so I doubt she even knows what’s going on right now.”
Henry took the apple out of his hand before washing it thoroughly, “The virus can stay on surfaces upwards of days on uncooked foods. Also, your jacket isn’t clean itself,” He handed him the apple back, “But that’s great! You guys are settled nicely in your room too?” Ethan nodded again before taking a bite of his apple.
They sat in a sort of uncomfortable silence for a moment, “Can I ask you a question? You’re totally free not to answer, it’s about relationships and shit.” He was waved on to continue. Ethan’s voice was lowered to a whisper, “Okay, I sort of have a thing for Lex, but she for sure doesn’t feel the same way.”
He was basically interrupted by Henry saying, “Yeah, I could tell. But, you know that for a fact, as in it was explicitly stated to you by her,” His tone was more questioning than a response.
“It wasn’t complicitly stated or whatever, but she said that she didn’t want to get too deep right now. And also now would be a shitty time to tell her this, but I’m not sure if I can hide it any longer, you know?”
His uncle hummed in response, “I’d say that, if you’re comfortable with it, maybe you should ask her one more. About how she feels and her stance of furthering your relationship,”
Ethan nodded and stuck his hand out for a high-five which Henry rolled his eyes before returning, “Okay, I think that might work. I’ll try it tonight after dinner to see where she’s at.” He hopped off the stool and started to walk away before calling out, “Thanks, Uncle Hen! I owe you,” Soon enough the door was slammed behind him and he was spinning too fast in a desk chair.
He tried to do some of his work from the previous weeks, texting Oliver to help him with specific math problems. He got through about 7 problems before Lex came in and stood over him, “Watcha doin’?” Her hands almost immediately started combing through his hair.
“Ollie convinced me to try and catch up. It’s hell.”
She hummed in response, her hands still weaving through his curls, “Well, at least you’re doing it now. I don’t really wanna go into senior year without you.” He spun around and smiled cockily. She rolled her eyes, “Fuck off. You know, I really like being taller than you. It makes me feel powerful.”
He laughed as he swiveled back around, “You’re barely taller than me, even when I'm sitting down,”
“It’s not my fault you’re a fucking giant. I wish I was tall,” She over exaggeratedly sighed as she fell back onto the bed.
He stood up and patted her leg, “Babe, you don’t understand- with great power comes great responsibility,”
She shot up on the bed, “Don’t fucking quote spider-man at me. You have zero responsibility. Just finding shoes to fit your fucking clown feet,”
He flipped her off as she laughed, “Oh I have plenty of responsibility. I can’t think of one right now, but they’re there, I promise.”
Lex laughed and pulled him down to her level by his collar. He could feel her breath on his lips when his phone chimed, gesturing that Hidgens texted them for dinner. He looked down at her with a smile, “Later?”
She let go of his collar and pushed his chest, “Maybe,”