Coffeerooms Passions

Important Note: This fic is a complete fic. It takes place after at the hospital after Ethan tells Theresa what his decision is.

Whitney Russell stood at the foot of the hospital bed still not quite believing what she had seen or heard over the last fifteen minutes. Ethan had chosen Theresa. He had turned his back on what his family wanted and chosen love instead. She never would have believed it had she not seen and heard him with her own eyes and ears. Theresa had been right all along and so had Chad. Ethan did love Theresa. A person would have to be blind not to see it. It was written all over his face every time he looked at her. How could she have missed it? How could she had missed the looks that passed between them whenever they were in the same room together?

In actuality, she knew she hadn’t. She just refused to believe what she was seeing or hearing. She hadn’t wanted to believe it because if she allowed herself to believe Theresa’s dreams would come true then she would have to face her own dreams and that wasn’t something she was prepared to do quite yet.

Whitney glanced over at the man standing on the other side of Theresa’s bed and wondered if Theresa could have been right about what happened a few days ago. Could Chad have really thought he was talking to her when he told Simone he loved her? Could he really have thought it was her he was kissing? She had denied she cared what he said and did, but a part of her heart had died when she saw him kissing Simone. She wanted to be the one he kissed. She wanted to be the one he loved. And she knew the reason why.

As much as she’d tried to deny it and as much as she’d tried to fight it, the fact of the matter was she had fallen in love with Chad Harris. It didn’t matter that they had come from two complete different worlds and that they virtually had nothing in common. The only thing that mattered was how he made her feel and that was alive. He made her feel more alive than she ever felt playing tennis and that scared her. In fact, it terrified her.

She’d spent her whole life playing tennis and focusing on tennis. But then she met Chad and suddenly tennis didn’t seem so important anymore. In fact, it didn’t seem important at all. She had once tried to tell her father that she wanted to back off of tennis, but it turns out she was telling Chad instead. She never made another attempt because she didn’t want to give Chad the satisfaction of knowing he was right about her. But now things were different. Now it was becoming harder and harder to keep her mind focused on tennis. She couldn’t count the number of times she had been late to practice lately. Her father had hit the roof on more than one occasion over it.

She shook her head then turned back to the couple sitting on the bed. After Ethan’s confession he had wrapped his arms around Theresa and they had stayed that way ever since – holding onto each other as if they were afraid they would lose what they had just found. Whitney now knew that wasn’t going to happen. It wouldn’t be entirely smooth sailing for them, she knew. Gwen wasn’t going to take losing Ethan gracefully. But Whitney also knew that the love Ethan and Theresa had was strong enough to fight whatever the Hotchkiss’ and Crane’s through their way.

Would she ever find a love like that? Her eyes immediately traveled back to Chad and she had to suck in a deep breath when her brown eyes met his. He raised a brow at her then tilted his head toward the hall. She nodded then turned and walked out of the room, fully aware that Chad was right behind her.

Chad Harris watched Whitney walk from the room and couldn’t help but wonder what she thought about Ethan’s decision. She had made a comment earlier that his decision would have an impact on her life and he was still wondering what she meant by that. Yeah, she had given him some lame statement about being there for Theresa, but he wasn’t buying it. He couldn’t help but think there was more to it than she let on. Over the last few months, he had learned a lot about Whitney and he could usually tell when she as holding something back. Something told him what she was holding back now wasn’t a minor thing to her. Whatever it was had her in knots. He could see the tension in her so he knew she was wrestling with something. He only wished she would trust him enough to tell him.

Now that was rich, he thought shaking his head as he turned and followed Whitney out into the hall. Whitney had made it perfectly clear how much she didn’t trust him so why did he keep wishing she would change her mind. Kay had said that Whitney thought guys who told girls how they felt were weak, but he wasn’t too sure he believed that anymore. He had seen the tears in her eyes as Ethan told Theresa he wanted her and Kay’s statements just didn’t add up to the reality of Whitney. She’d had a look of envy on her face as Theresa heard Ethan profess his love for her and if she thought guys spilling their emotions were weak she certainly would be envious of her friend. No, he was more sure than ever that Kay was wrong, but there was only one way to find out for sure. It would be a risk he knew, but it was one he was determined to take. He needed to find out the truth for himself once and for all. He needed to know where he and Whitney stood and he wasn’t leaving the hospital until he did.

Whitney felt Chad come up behind her and she had to steel herself from reacting as he placed his hand on her bare shoulder. The heat from his palm coursed through her body and she wondered how she found the strength to turn and face him. She met his eyes and when she saw the emotion in them she knew it was time to live up to her part of the deal she had Theresa had made. Theresa had constantly told her that love was worth the risk and after what she had seen happen here today, she tended to agree with her. The happiness she saw in Theresa and Ethan’s eyes was something she hoped to find herself – with Chad.

"Can we go some place and talk?" Chad asked his voice soft and low.

She swallowed hard then forced herself to speak past the lump in her throat. "Y… yes."

He nodded then held out his right hand to her, palm side up. She looked at it and then placed her tiny hand in his large one. The moment his fingers closed around it, a shot of electricity shot up her arm. She looked at him in surprise then felt her breath catch in her throat as he smiled and raised his free hand to brush her hair back off her face. "Ready?"

She nodded then allowed him to lead her out of the hospital toward Lighthouse Park. Neither spoke until they reached an empty bench in the middle of the park. She sat down on the bench and Chad sat beside her. She could feel the tension radiating from him and it helped to ease her own insecurity. "What did you want to talk about Chad?"

He turned toward her and the look in his eyes wasn’t guarded the way it had been the last few weeks. No, right now his eyes were open and honest much as they had been in the cabin when she’d sang for him or in the ocean when he’d saved her life for the second time. His eyes spoke volumes and she was anxious to read every single word inside them.

Chad cleared his throat. "I… well, I wanted to… I think it’s time I explain a few things to you, Whitney."

"What things?" Whitney asked more than a little confused. She had never seen Chad so nervous before and it made her nervous in return.

"I… I want to talk about what I told Simone… about when I kissed her. I… damn this is harder than I thought. Now I know how Ethan felt."

"Ethan?" Whitney asked coming to her feet and turning to stare at him still sitting on the park bench. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Nothing." Chad said shaking his head and getting up to stand in front of her. "He has nothing to do with this. I –"

"If he has nothing to do with it then why did you bring him up?"

"I… dammit would you just let me say this!"

"Fine!" Whitney yelled her temper quickly rising so that she could hide her fear, her fear that Chad was going to tell her he really did love Simone. "Who’s stopping you! Just say it already!"

"I thought it was you!" He said grabbing her by the arms and looking into her eyes. "Do you hear me, Whitney? I thought it was you I was kissing… I thought I was telling you that I loved you!"

Whitney opened her mouth to speak, but Chad didn’t let her get the words out. Instead, he covered her mouth in a passionate kiss, one that curled her toes and made her cling to his shoulders so that she wouldn’t fall to the ground in a puddle of emotions. His lips slid against hers and she moaned in pleasure. As she did, Chad took the opportunity to glide his tongue inside. At the first stroke of his tongue against hers, she knew this was what all those love songs talked about. This was what Theresa had been talking about. This was love. This was real honest to goodness love and she planned to hold onto it with everything she had in her.

Chad finally raised his head after a few moments then favored her with a smile. "I love you, Whitney Russell."

Whitney raised a hand to the back of Chad’s head then pulled his lips back to hers and whispered the words that finally set the emotions she’d always kept in check free. "I love you too Chad with all of my heart."