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3rd Person POV

Adrien’s expression remained unchanged, but something flickered in his eyes.

Ethan let out a breath, rubbing his hand over his face. "You really didn’t think that was something I should know?"

Finally, Adrien turned his head, his gaze meeting Ethan’s with a calm that didn’t match the tension.

"It wasn’t about you."

Ethan let out a short, humorless laugh. "Right. Because I just happen to be the guy standing here who also—" He cut himself off, exhaling sharply. "Forget it."

"No," Adrien said quietly. "You should go on."

Ethan locked eyes with him, his expression noticeably sharper.

"I said it’s messed up," he repeated, voice tense. "You and him, sneaking around like that behind my back. And yeah, things were complicated, but that doesn’t make it any less messed up."

Adrien didn’t reply right away.

Ethan let out another breath, shaking his head. "I’m not even getting into the whole stepbrother thing now because that’s a whole different level of weird, but seriously... you couldn’t have said anything?"

Adrien’s gaze held steady.

"What would you have done if I or Noah had?" he asked.

Ethan frowned. "That’s not the point."

"It kind of is."

Ethan opened his mouth to argue but paused, jaw tightening.

"I don’t know," he admitted eventually. "Probably would’ve punched you in the damn face."

Adrien let out a quiet laugh. "At least you’re honest."

"Don’t act like that’s funny," Ethan shot back. "I’m serious. I still kind of want to."

Adrien leaned back, hands behind him as he stared up at the dark sky.

"Then why don’t you?"

Ethan regarded him, an expression forming. "Because you’ve got enough on your plate already. I’m not adding to it." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Adrien was silent for a moment.

Then he nodded once. "Fair."

The tension didn’t vanish, but it shifted, becoming something less sharp, more... real. Ethan exhaled slowly, shoulders dropping as some weight lifted from the conversation.

"I don’t hate you," he said eventually, his voice softer now. "Just... for the record, even if you make it so easy to."

Adrien sighed, gaze still fixed upward. "Good. That would make things awkward."

Ethan snorted. "As if they weren’t already."

Adrien smirked faintly.

They sat in the quiet for a bit longer, the earlier tension giving way to something a bit more manageable, not completely resolved but acknowledged.

The evening air settled into that familiar in-between state. The last bits of warmth still clung to the pavement, even as the sky shifted to a dusky blue, signaling that night was just around the corner.

The basketball court was mostly deserted now, the earlier sounds of teenagers and traffic fading into the background, turning into a distant hum. The only noises that lingered were the uneven breaths of two guys and the quiet metallic creak of the hoop swaying slightly from the last powerful shot.

Adrien leaned back against the cool metal of the bench, his damp shirt sticking to his skin, chest rising and falling slowly as exhaustion weighed on him.

Sweat traced a path down the side of his face, slipping along his jaw before disappearing into the collar of his shirt, yet he made no move to wipe it away. He stared ahead, though it was clear he wasn’t really focused on anything.

Next to him, Ethan stretched his legs out, one foot nudging a stray pebble across the concrete as he tried to catch his breath. His fingers wrapped loosely around a can of cola he had grabbed from a store nearby, the cold metal grounding him in the moment.

He tilted his head back slightly, taking a long sip before letting out a soft exhale, the carbonation tingling in his throat.

For a bit, they both stayed quiet, which was unusual for them. Silence wasn’t something they were comfortable with; their conversations usually had a mix of competition, sarcasm, or even hostility. But tonight, the quiet felt less tense and more like something delicate neither wanted to disturb too soon.

Adrien’s expression flickered a bit but disappeared quickly. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked down at the ground.

"Technically," he began, his tone sharper now, "we weren’t sneaking around behind your back."

Ethan let out a scoff. "Oh, here we go."

"I’m fucking serious," Adrien continued, glancing up briefly. "You and Noah were on a break, remember? That’s what people do on breaks. They see other people."

Ethan shook his head, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "That doesn’t make it better, Adrien."

"Maybe not," Adrien replied quietly but firmly. "But it’s the truth."

He took another sip of his drink, letting the silence stretch for a moment before moving on, choosing his words carefully.

"And for what it’s worth," he added, "we didn’t go all the way...we never fully had sex."

Ethan blinked, caught off guard by his bluntness. "That’s... not something I needed to know, Asshole."

Adrien shrugged slightly. "I’m telling you anyway," he said. "Because Noah wouldn’t. He was too busy worrying about everything else."

Ethan’s expression softened just a bit. "Worrying about what?"

"About ruining everything," Adrien replied simply. "About hurting you, the whole stepbrother thing, what it would do to the family even though it was already a mess." He let out a breath, shaking his head. "He was the one holding back, not me."

Ethan frowned, processing that. "And you didn’t care?" he asked.

Adrien let out another quiet laugh, this one more bitter. "At first, yeah, it felt weird," he admitted. "I’m not insane; I knew how messed up it looked."

He paused, his gaze drifting back to the court. "But after I told him how I felt... after that, I stopped caring."

Ethan studied him closely. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Adrien confirmed. "All I knew was that I wanted him...I needed him, and everything else felt like obstacles. The marriage, the family, all of it. It didn’t matter anymore."

He shook his head slightly, a faint, almost self-deprecating smile appearing. "Noah was the one worrying about the consequences. He always does. That’s just who he is."

Ethan huffed out a small laugh. "Yeah, that sounds like him."

Adrien glanced at him, something softer in his expression. "Little hamster," he muttered, the nickname slipping out almost without thought.

Ethan chuckled, shaking his head. "You’re unbelievable."

"Don’t act like you don’t know what I mean," Adrien shot back, though his tone was softer now.

Ethan leaned back against the bench, his gaze drifting up as the first stars appeared.

"I do," he admitted. "He’s always been like that, making sure everyone else is okay, even if it means messing himself up."

Adrien’s expression darkened a bit. "Exactly. And now he thinks the best way to deal with all this is to remove himself completely."

Ethan frowned. "You mean the whole ’not choosing either of us’ thing?"

"Yeah," Adrien said, voice tight. "He thinks he’s doing the right thing by hurting himself instead of us, but all he’s doing is making everything worse."

Ethan paused, fingers tightening on the can. "Or maybe he just doesn’t want to lose either of us."

Adrien scoffed. "That’s not how it works."

"Isn’t it?" Ethan shot back, tone sharpening. "Because from where I’m standing, it looks like he’s trying to hold onto the two people he cares about most, and both of us are making that impossible."

Adrien narrowed his eyes. "And what, you think you’re handling it better?"

"I think I understand him," Ethan replied firmly.

Adrien let out a short, incredulous laugh. "You understand him? You hardly even noticed what he was going through most of the time."

Ethan’s expression hardened. "That’s not fair."

"No?" Adrien challenged. "Because from what I saw, you were too wrapped up in your little epic romance to see how much pressure he was under."

Ethan suddenly stood, breaking the fragile calm. "And you think you helped?" he demanded, voice rising slightly. "You were the one pushing him into something he wasn’t ready for."

Adrien stood, anger momentarily overriding his exhaustion. "I didn’t push him into anything," he snapped. "He felt the same way; he just didn’t know how to deal with it."

"And you did?" Ethan shot back.

"At least I didn’t pretend it wasn’t there," Adrien shot back.

They faced each other, the tension thick and palpable, the earlier ease of their conversation gone.

For a moment, it seemed like tensions might escalate, like Ethan might actually punch him, but instead, he let out a long, frustrated breath and stepped back.

"This isn’t getting us anywhere," he muttered, rubbing his face.

Adrien hesitated before exhaling, some tension leaving his shoulders. "Yeah," he admitted. "It’s not."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before gradually settling back down, the argument losing heat but not its weight.

After a while, Ethan spoke again, quieter this time. "I don’t think you’re the enemy," he said.

Adrien shot him a surprised look. "Could’ve fooled me."

Ethan offered a small, tired smile. "Doesn’t mean I like you, though," he added.

Adrien let out a soft huff of amusement. "Fair enough."

Another silence fell between them, but it felt different this time, less tense and more... uncertain.

"I’m not giving up on him," Ethan said after a moment, eyes fixed ahead.

Adrien nodded slowly. "Neither am I."

Ethan glanced at him briefly. "Guess we’re stuck with each other then."

Adrien smirked faintly. "Lucky us."

Ethan rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of lightness in his expression now. "Don’t push it."

They sat for a while longer, night fully enveloping them, neither comfortable but no longer at odds in the same way as before. The rivalry still lingered, along with jealousy and all that came with it. Yet under it all, a fragile understanding began to form.

It wasn’t trust, not yet, and definitely not friendship, but it was enough to keep things from breaking completely. For now, that was all either of them could really manage.