<em>Ethan just shook his head as Anna spoke.  There was no way she was going to convince him that she should be left alone, or that she could ever be a nuisance.  He was glad James backed up those thoughts,   James could have punched him good though, when he joked about seeing Anna naked.  It wasn't like Ethan never ha such thoughts...he had them more often than not, in fact.  But he would never tell Anna about them, even jokingly.  It was yet another indication on a growing list of why James was better suited for Anna.<br/><br/>When James mouthed his question to Ethan, all Ethan had time for was a dirty look in response.  How could James make such a perfect offer, and then recant it?!</em><br/><br/>"It's not out of our way to care for you Anna, and there is no way you could ever be a nuisance.  What would really be a nuisance would be to worry about you living alone, when you could be protected so easily."<br/><br/><em>His words were probably harsh, or at least harsher than he had ever spoken to her in the past.  But fear did things like that.<br/><br/>When Jace took a seat near Anna, Ethan turned to look out the window.  As he often did when the three of them were together, he felt again like a third wheel.<br/><br/>It was all in his mind, or so he thought, because neither Anna, nor James had ever said anything to make him feel that way.  Obviously, probably as a self defense mechanism, Ethan built himself into the role.  Unwilling to come between James and Anna, he had convinced himself that between the three of them they would be better suited.  Now all he had to do was convince Anna of the same.<br/><br/>But that wouldn't be an easy task, and it was nothing he wanted to talk about with James in the room.<br/><br/>And then Jace's face was before him again, and he felt ever strongly that Anna could not live on her own.  Still staring out the window, Ethan spoke.</em><br/><br/>"Anna, you need to be reasonable, if only for a short while.  Your body can't withstand another beating like you just had, especially if it were to come on the heels of all these surgeries.  You better make up you mind to agree so some kind of protection..."<br/><br/><em>He almost said 'or else', but caught himself in time.</em>