hidden | ethma

seventy five

the words leave his lips and my heart swells, all the pain i've felt in these past months being soothed by the sweet sound of his rough voice. i shut my eyes briefly, biting my lip to keep from smiling like an idiot.

zeke is still speaking and i feel bad for tuning him out, but all i can think about is ethan is here, he's breathing.

elizabeth is oblivious to the entire thing happening. she has tears in her eyes from zeke's words, but as far as i know she hasn't seen that ethan is sitting directly behind us.
zeke finishes speaking and perla begins her vows, a wide smile spreading across her face. my leg bounces up and down impatiently. i am in complete shock.

maybe i imagined it?

i turn and peek over my shoulder again, just to be sure.

he's already looking at me when i lock eyes with him, the same smirk on his face. he runs his tongue over his lips, blinking at me and i swear to god, he winks at me. winks.

"shit," i breathe, whirling back around.

"what?" elizabeth whispers.

"nothing," i hiss.

i try to pay attention to the wedding after that, i really try, but i just can't, i don't even blame myself, really. ethan is sitting behind me, with that stupid smirk on his face.

god damn it, ethan.

finally, perla wraps up her vows and the rings are exchanged. i smile widely when the two kiss, perla's arms thrown around zeke's neck as everyone claps and cheers.

elizabeth and i stand as they walk back down the aisle and out of the tent.

the ceremony began at six at night, a bit unusual still nice. i think it was because they wanted to see the sunset, a beautiful sight.

"reception's next, right?" elizabeth asks.

i nod, my eyes following ethan as everyone files out of the tent to the next one. he walks with max and nate, hands in his pocket.

"are you okay?" elizabeth inquires as we follow the crowd.

"no," i admit. "not at all."

"why? what's wrong?"

i pull her arm to get her to stop walking and point at ethan.

she squints, "is that... oh my god..."

"he was behind us, oh my-"

"emma, he's-"

"-alive i'm going to shit myself-"

"i'm surprised you haven't shit yourself-"

"oh my god-"

"well, go talk to him!"

"what? what do i say? jesus!"

"give him a kiss right on the mouth-"

"no, he has a hell of a lot of explaining to do, i'm not just going to-"