Chapter 4.

BPOV

"I don't exactly know how my mam will handle you coming over to the house and quite honestly she's liable to say anything so it's probably best if you just ignore her, okay?" Ethan asked me as we stepped off the book.

"Okay, but what if she asks me about school or something?" I asked nervously.

"I'll handle her on those questions but other then that just go with the flow." He instructed as we left the bus station and started up the road towards a huge carpark.

"Okay." I was struggling to keep up with Ethan as he moved swiftly through the people.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed but do you see the tall blonde woman standing by the wall chatting up the guard?" He asked me and we stopped at the green gate.

"Um... Yes?" I wasn't quite sure, if I was looking at the same woman as he was.

"That's my mam... Her name is Roisin but you might be better off calling her Mrs Whyte until she tells you otherwise." He said and took off again heading towards the blonde woman.

She saw him coming, look sort of angry and walked away from the guard. She composed her face and broke into a wide smile. "Ethan! Oh my baby!"

"Oh God she's starting." He muttered under his breath so only I could here.

"Oh Ethan how have you been it's been so long!" She ran over and took him into her arms.

"Mam get off me." He grumbled and pulled himself back away from her.

"But it's been so long since I've seen you." She gushed and started messing with his hair.

"Mam this is Bella. She's my friend from school I told her she could stay with us til I'm leaving." Ethan told her and pointed at me.

She narrowed her eyes and scrutinsised me as if I were a threat. "Ethan, I don't know if that's such a good idea. We don't really know her."

"Mam, I told you she's my friend. We can either stay with you or at a hostel, your choice." Ethan shrugged.

She frowned. "Fine. Your dad won't be happy about this."

Ethan clenched his teeth together. "That tosser isn't my dad! Stop saying that he is!"

"Ethan! Behave yourself, you've a guest." She got into the driver's side and turned the ignition on.

"This visit she'll be lucky if she doesn't wake up to me trying to smttered her." He muttered and got in the passenger seat.

"So Bella, how long have you been friends with Ethan?" His mom asked me.

"Mam, could you please just drive the car and stop plaguing her with questions?" He huffed iritably.

"I'm just trying to learn about the perfect stranger you've brought to stay in my home." She smiled. I picked up the silent digs.

"Mam, she's not a stranger. She's my friend okay?" He snapped at her.

We drove the rest of the way in silence.

OoOo

It was late when we got to Mrs Whyte's house. It was a super expensive condo in the most expensive building in Dublin.

"So this is where mam has gotten too. I've got to admit, she's done well." Ethan said to me as he took his bag out of the booth.

"Is her husband well off?" I asked him.

"Uber rich. He's a bloodsucking, souless lawyer... Completely giving into this souless world." He shook his head and pressed the elevator button.

"So you don't like lawyers then?" I asked sarcastically.

"What does your stepdad do?" He switched topics.

"He's a professor at an art college." It was one of John's favorite hobbies.

"Ah see now that is a good profession. He's doing something that helps people follow their dreams." He nodded approvingly.

"So what're you gonna do that'll help people follow their dreams?" I asked him curiously.

"Youth counceller." He replied simply and stepped out of the elevator.

"Ethan! Come here! Meet my husband!" Roisin's voice was high pitched and screechy.

Ethan groaned and dropped his bag at the hall table and motioned at me. "Come on,"

We walked into the living room where Roisin sat with an annoyed looking man.

"Roisin, why didn't you tell me your son was coming?" He snapped at her.

"Believe me I'd rather be anywhere but here." Ethan growled at him.

"Ethan control your temper and sweetie I told you he was coming you just forgot." Roisin was trying to calm them both down.

"Whatever. Listen kid, you call me Mr Whyte and not dad, you got it?" Mr Whyte snapped at him.

"Whatever." Ethan rolled his eyes at him.

"Honey, this Ethan's friend from school, Bella." Roisin pointed at me.

I waved shyly at him and bit my lip nervously.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. There was something funny in his eyes, then it turned to lust and he grinned slightly.

"I was just thinking that she'd be more pretty if she'd do something about her split ends and maybe had a nose job and tummy tuck." Roisin muttered meanly. She'd noticed Mr Whyte checking me out and was now getting spiteful.

"She looks pretty good already." Mr Whyte murmured.

"You, you sick pervert stop looking at my friend like that and mam stop taking digs at her just cause your husband's a pedo!" Ethan snapped at both of them.

"What did you call me!?" Mr Whyte jumped up off the sofa and lunged at Ethan and grabbed him by the collar. "I am not a pervert and I am not a pedo, so why don't you keep your opinions to yourself from now on!?"

"Get. Off. Me." Ethan said through gritted teeth.

Mr Whyte released him and stormed out off the room, leaving me and Roisin in shock and Ethan furious.

"Ethan you should know better then to get him worked up." Roisin scolded him.

"Oh I'm sorry? Did you not notice the big psycho lunge at me?" He hissed sarcastically.

"You pushed him too it!" She yelled and quickly ran out of the room, following after Mr Whyte.

Ethan put his fist through the wall. "I knew it was a fucking bad idea to come back here!"

"Ethan!" I ran over and examined his hand. It was a little scratched but it wasn't bleeding.

"I'm fine... I'm just mad... Since I was fourteen it had always just been me and my mam... She would've gone insane and self harmed if I hadn't been around, when the day I turned fourteen my dad sued her for full custody and I went to live with him in New Ross... Now my mam asks as if her new husband is her whole world... I never realised how easy it is to be replaced." He muttered bitterly and left the sitting room.

Maybe I would've been better off staying with Angel. Least there wasn't any tension there. Mr Whyte was an angry abusive man, Mrs Whyte hated me because I was slightly pretty and Ethan hated both off them.

"Bella, come on!" Ethan called.

I went out into the hall. One of the doors was closed and there was yelling coming from behind it, I assumed it was the master bedroom. One of the doors was slightly ajar and a crack of light slipped out into the hall, I pushed open the door.

"So that's my family." Ethan sighed. He was lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I should go stay with my aunt Angel." I bit my lip nervously and stood at the edge off the room.

He sat up and gave me a puzzled look. "Why? I thought I was going to help you find your dad?"

"Yeah but I just thought... With the drama round here_"

"I promised you I'd help you find your dad, so I'll help you find your dad. Get my laptop out of my bag there." He pointed at the bag by the wall.

I bent down and unzipped his bag. On top of it was was an expensive looking mac. I got up and handed it to him.

"Okay so what do you know about your dad?" He asked me going onto the internet.

I bit my lip. "Virtually nothing except his name is Jack and he lives in Dublin."

He rolled his eyes. "Well that really narrows things down there are thirty one results."

"That doesn't seem that bad." I said trying to be optimistic.

"This is only the eircom phonebook... What if he doesn't have a house phone?" He asked me.

"Well we'll try these ones first." I said firmly and sat on the bed beside him.

"Think he's a doctor?" He asked pointing out the first name.

I shook my head. "Doubtful... He'd be too old... Someone my dad's age would still be studying medicine wouldn't he?"

Ethan shrugged. "Maybe. Think he's a reverend?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"Well we can't no for certain. I say we go find these people. We ask them a few questions and see if they're your dad, if its not these people then we'll widen our search... It wouldn't hurt if you asked your aunt for some extra information." He said setting a plan in motion.

"I've got my mom's yearbook... And some old photo albums I took from her wardrobe." I told him.

"They could be helpful... We'll bring them with us... See if any of the Jack's recognise your mam in any of them... Are there any of him in it?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know what he looks like."

"What about the yearbook?" He asked hopefully.

"It says there are people missing due to illness or they didn't want to be in it... There's only one Jack but mom is still in touch with him... He's her editor." I told him. This was starting to seem like a dead end.

"Just because he's not in it doesn't mean we won't find him... We could search the people in the year book too." He suggested.

"This seems like an awful lot of work." I said nervously.

He rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Bella, do you want to find your dad or not?"

"Yes." I snapped at him.

"Then we've got to be willing to put in the effort." he said simply.

It had happened in a really strange way, meeting on a bus, but judging by all the plans he was making and how much effort he was willing to put into helping find my dad, Ethan may actually be the perfect person to help me.

So what do you think?

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