<em>Ethan gave up.  It was no use.  Anna had some irrational phobia about having either him or James protect her, even if it was only a couple days.  She might not understand it, and might think the guys were trying to overpower her, but she was going to need time to heal, and that was all they were asking.<br/><br/>Apparently that was too much.  Whatever.</em><br/><br/>"Fine then.  You do it on your own.  If Jace comes back and beats the shit out of you, you have no one to blame but yourself.  If you can't see our only reason for offering you protection, is because we love you and don't want to lose you, fine.  Whatever.  I won't keep arguing with you, because I don't want to upset you anymore than you already are.  But I can't just sit around and watch if something like this happens again.  It...it just hurts too much.<br/><br/>I can't believe that if it were James or me lying in the bed, and still had a threat to our lives out there, that you wouldn't move heaven and earth to find a way to protect us...well, maybe I can."<br/><br/><em>It was obvious that both he and James had more than friendly feelings toward Anna, and equally as obvious that she would never see them as more than friends...brothers.  He could deal with that, but he couldn't deal with another near death event like this one.<br/><br/>He marched over to Anna, and kissed her on the cheek.</em><br/><br/>"I gotta go, and you need sleep.  I'm sorry if I upset you."<em>But he would not apologize for telling her how he felt.</em><br/><br/>"I'll call you tomorrow, and see if you're up for company."<br/><br/><em>And with that Ethan moved toward the door to leave.</em>