"Bye," I whispered while he leaned against my desk. He's sneaking out the window cause my parents are home tonight and we don't wanna wake them up. It's also midnight right now.

"Bye," he whispered back. Nobody moved.

"Bye, Ethan," I chuckled.

"Bye, Olive." Nobody moved.

"Okay, seriously. You have to go. Pick me up tomorrow morning for school, okay?" I asked.

"I have to ask you something before I go," he said.

"What?" I questioned, standing there while our hands were locked and he looked down at me.

"Have you ever gotten lonely? I mean, with your parents gone all the time and stuff, don't you ever get lonely?" he asked hesitantly.

I eyed him for a minute until it clicked.

She told him.

"Cher told you?" I inquired. He nodded softly. I rolled my eyes, slightly shaking my head, resting it on his shoulder. "Yes, it gets lonely. I used to feel a lot lonelier earlier, but I learned to cope with it," I mumbled, not looking up at him.

"Why didn't you tell anyone? When you..." he trailed off.

"Wanted to kill myself?" I asked, finally looking at him. "I was too scared and I didn't have anybody to tell. But weirdly enough, actually, out of the people in this world, I wanted to tell you. And we only ever argued back then," I scoffed.

"You should have told me," he mumbled.

"I didn't know you had a soft side until that day in my room when you were there for me while I panicked about having to leave this house," I retorted, "I told Sky. She's one of the only people that's sort of always stuck around. No one else ever did," I shrugged.

"I will, you know that right?" he asked.

I nodded slowly, "I know you will, Ethan," I whispered. "Now go, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I smiled.

"I love you, Olivia, you don't have a middle name, Carrington," he chuckled.

"You finally figured it out, Miles," I grinned, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he replied before leaving.

I was still standing at my window, grabbing onto the edge, getting ready to close it when he turned to me. "What?" I chuckled, leaning forward, ducking my head out. He bit his lip as if he were contemplating something before he crawled back out, throwing one leg out first before he came over to mine, hanging on but not coming inside. "What are you doing? If you fall, you'll-"

"Shh," he said, silencing me.

I raised my eyebrows at him, ducking under his arm to see the height. "Ethan, this is higher than you think, the fall is gonna hurt harder than you think, if you fall which, hopefully, you won't because if you do, I don't know what or how I'm gonna-"

"You talk way too much," he mumbled, letting one hand go.

"Ethan!" I shrieked.

"Shh!" he hissed.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, grabbing onto his shirt just because it made me feel like I had a hold on him. Like I wouldn't let him fall.

"I didn't kiss you goodnight," he whispered.

"Are you insane? Seriously just for one-"

He cut me off by grabbing the back of my neck and smashing his lips on mine. I got lost in the kiss until he pulled away. I stared at him, still in a whole different world in my head. "What were you saying?" he smirked.

"What was I saying?" I asked myself. "I uh, I don't remember," I mumbled sheepishly.

"Right," he said slowly, leaning forward to kiss me again. "I don't wanna leave," he whispered.

I eyed him for a moment before shrugging, "So don't." His eyebrows perked up. "Don't leave, just stay the night here," I said.

"But we've got school."

"So? You live next door, go get dressed in the morning," I shrugged once again.

"That works?" he asked.

"Sure it works," I nodded.

He grabbed both sides of my face, kissing me. "Oh, shit," he laughed, quickly grabbing onto the window.

"Just come inside," I rolled my eyes, taking a step back so he had enough room.

He crawled back in, climbing over my desk before dusting his hands, turning to me. "I love you," he said, slowly kissing me.

"I love you too," I replied.

We'd been lying in bed for about 30 minutes now and we're talking about getting married. Yes, this is a serious conversation.

"You know, Cher told me that we should elope in England because the legal age for marriage there is 18. She thinks we should get married as soon as possible," I chuckled.

"She's not wrong," he smiled.

"What are your views on marriage?" I asked.

"What are my views on marriage, let's see," he sighed. "I think marriage is marriage," he shrugged.

"I think marriage is a tragedy too though, don't you think?" I asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head slowly, "No, I think love is a tragedy," he said.

I looked at him in confusion. "Why? Marriage is what ruins things," I pointed out.

"No, love ruins things," he corrected.

"Huh? Explain please," I said, sitting up.

He sat up as well and turned to me. "Let's say we've got 2 couples. One of them is a married couple, husband and wife, the other is a couple that's living together, hmm?" I nodded in understanding. "The married couple is having trust issues. Let's say the wife thinks her husband is cheating on her. The live-in couple is also having trust issues, the boyfriend thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him. Now, who is to say the trust issues are because of the marriage? For the sake of it, let's just say nobody is actually cheating on their other half, but the doubt is still there, right? The suspicion is still there, right? In both relationships?"

I thought about what he was saying. "Yeah, but people really do cheat more in marriages. They feel tied down, they feel bored," I argued.

"Yeah, but who is to say that's because they're married? It could also happen in a normal relationship, before marriage, couldn't it? See, marriage is nothing. It's just a formality if you think about it. It depends on each person how important it is to them. For some, it's more sacred than it is for others. Those people respect it more. For others it's just a superficial title," he shrugged.

"Marriage is not just a superficial title," I frowned.

"For some people it is. That's why there are people out there who don't believe in marriage at all. You don't need marriage to commit. And marriage doesn't ruin love, infidelity, betrayal, and dishonesty does. Marriage is over-hated," he explained, "Married people cheat just as much as people in relationships. You're committing to another person in both. People are just cruel. The world is just cruel, that's why marriages and relationships fall apart."

I sat in silence while processing what he just said.

"And anyway, why is it such a big deal if a husband cheats on his wife but not as big of a deal if a boyfriend cheats on his girlfriend? It's because marriage is a little more for society. For people to see. That doesn't mean it's not important to you. It just means people feed into it."

"It's not as big of a deal because when you marry someone, you're committing for life. When you're in a relationship, you're committing to them, you just don't know how long it's for. That doesn't make cheating acceptable, it just... I don't know how to explain it. It's just a bigger deal when your husband does that," I shrugged.

"Why though? What's the difference between a great husband and a great boyfriend? Apart from the title, that is. What does a great husband have that a great boyfriend doesn't?" he questioned, "And anyway, if you can't take a husband or a boyfriend's word for commitment, then what's the point of marriage?" he asked.

"Marriage strengthens the bond of the two people. You get married for yourselves, not for other people," I explained, "You get married because having that title, that commitment to one another, makes you feel happier, not because other people approve of it," I shrugged.

"Then why need someone else's approval at all?"

"You don't."

"Then why do people ask for it?"

"Cause people are dumb," I retorted, "You should choose who you wanna get married to, how you wanna get married to them, where, when..." I trailed off, "Some people just give their family and their family's opinions a little more importance than others. That's why they seek their approval. It's not necessary, just a little conformation or a little discussion, if you will," I chuckled.

"Let's say a girl brings home her boyfriend who she's about to marry to ask what her family thinks of them getting married and her family flat out rejects the boy. They say, 'no, he isn't the one for marriage.' That doesn't mean she actually has to listen and agree to what they're saying. Maybe she's just asking cause she wants to know. That doesn't mean their words won't hurt either, you just have to trust your love is stronger than that," I shrugged.

"Well tell me this, Ms. Wise Old Carrington," he grinned while pulling me onto his lap so I straddled him. "What would happen when we get married?" he asked.

"Well, that depends. How important is marriage to you? Because it's damn sacred to me."

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