[Ethan]
"I'm sorry."
We were currently sitting in my car, parked in my driveway, and I had just finished explaining to Amber what had happened at the party. I couldn't tell her about me being in love with Aria which meant that I had to make up a story.
"Is there something going on between you two?" Amber asks referring to Aria and I.
"No." I lie.
"Then what the hell was all of that about?" she demands, her voice pleading for me to tell her something– anything. Her eyes are glossed over but no tears fall. I know this must be frustrating for her. She shouldn't be having this many issues so early in a relationship.
"Her fiancé and I don't really get along, so she hates me since we'd fight and it would always cause problems in their relationship. But other than that, there's nothing going on between us." I tell her, which wasn't a complete lie.
She's quiet as she looks straight ahead, contemplating everything I just told her. I grab her hand and lace my fingers through hers.
"I believe you," she sighs. "But no more secrets."
"I promise." I whisper knowing that it was a promise I wouldn't be able to keep and I felt guilty as hell for it.
So before all my lies caught up with me, I leaned forward and pulled her in for a kiss.
"What do you think about just spending the rest of the night watching Netflix and eating ice cream?" I ask her when we pull away.
"I think that sounds perfect."
____________
[Aria]
"Explain." Madison demands, the attitude clear in her voice. I didn't blame her though, I was a bitch to Amber, but there was something about seeing Ethan with her that was unbearable.
"Mads, I'm sorry," I sigh, falling back onto her bed. It had only been minutes since the whole commotion and luckily, no one knew about what had happened.
Mason almost got involved once Madison dragged me inside, and we ran into him on our way upstairs. However, according to Madison, we had a "girl emergency" and he preferred to not know what that "emergency" was.
"Ar, if something is going on you need to tell me." She says and I groan. The only solution I could think of was to tell Madison the truth, hoping that she could help me make sense of it.
"I think I like Ethan." I blurt and by the way her eyes widen, I know a stern lecture against me having feelings for Ethan was in store.
"What do you mean you think you like Ethan?" She whisper yells, aware that we were still at my engagement party. "You're marrying Mason in less than a month Aria! You're at your own engagement party for crying out loud-"
"I know Mads!" I snap back at her. Everything she was saying were things I was well aware of, and it was not helping. "But Ethan– he just– ugh he just makes me feel things I should only be feeling for Mason! And I guess when I saw him with Amber I-i just-"
"Felt jealous." She finishes my sentence and I nod, burying my face into one of her pillows. All I wanted to do right now was scream from all the built up frustration and guilt that was eating me alive.
"And he's just always there." I mumble, adding to my reasoning. "Even when I don't want him to be." I think of all the times Ethan's been there for me and it just makes me feel worse about feeling this way about him. How did I go from wanting to marry Mason to suddenly liking someone I couldn't bare to be in the same room with months ago? It made no sense.
"Aria, are you sure you feel that way about him?" Madison asks slowly as if she had read my mind and seen that this entire situation was illogical. "Because to me it seems like you just like how he acted towards you when you needed someone."
I bury my face in my hands and think about what she was implying. Ethan had always saved me. Whether it was from Mason or from my own thoughts, he was there when there was no one to answer my cries for help, and maybe I had fallen for that. The side that he had only shown me, and now probably Amber as well. The good side of him.
"Maybe this is just a phase." She says.
No matter how much I didn't want to admit it, a large part of my felt like she was right.
This could just be a phase- one I needed to get over soon, because I couldn't let Ethan come between Mason and I again.
"You're right." I finally reply deciding that was the most reasonable explanation for what I was feeling and was therefore the correct one. There was still a sliver of me that sided with myself. The side that believed that my feelings for Ethan were real, but maybe I was only fooling myself. I loved Mason, not Ethan, and in less than a month, Mason was the one I'd be vowing to spend the rest of my life with.
______________
[Ethan]
"WAKE UP BITCH!" My eyes shoot open as my door is busted open and in jumps Rachel. I'm not the only one who was woken by her entrance because Amber shoots up seconds later, a mortified look on her face as she stares between Rachel and I.
I can tell that Rachel is surprised to see Amber too, especially since she wasn't aware we were now together. Rachel hadn't been around lately since she moved in with Evan, which meant that she hadn't kept up with me as much and vise versa.
"Rachel what the fuck!" I groan, pulling the sheets over the two of us. "It's eight in the morning!"
"Oh don't 'what the fuck' me Owens!" She shakes her head throwing a pillow at me. "And also, why the hell did I not know about you two?" The smirk is clear on her face and I wanna just roll my eyes.
"Amber and I are dating, now you know! Now can we please get back to-"
"Woah woah woah, did you say dating?" Rachel emphasizes the word and her eyes show a bit of disappointment. I can already imagine what is going through her head, but this wasn't the time nor the place to discuss everything that's happened since we last saw each other.
"Yes," I give her a look hoping that she'd understand what I was trying to say.
"Well... congrats," she gives us a smile and I know that there are probably so many questions running through her mind. "That's one way to welcome your best friend back home huh, you can tell me all about it later, Eth." She looks to me, and I nod before she steps out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
"You gotta love Rachel," Amber giggles from under the covers and I duck my head under so that our faces are inches apart.
"You really do." I shake my head before pulling her towards me on the bed and letting ourselves gradually fall back asleep.
[Aria]
My nails tapped on the wooden table as my eyes wandered around the quiet and not too busy Starbucks. The only other people here were a few teens and adults and an elderly couple that made me smile at how cute they looked together. They gazed at each other with so much love and admiration for one another, and it made me wish I could look at Mason that way again.
After I talked to Madison last night, Mason and I only stayed at the party for a bit after. We helped clean up the backyard but Madison soon sent us home insisting that the bride and groom should not be cleaning up their own party. Luckily, he didn't ask about the emergency from earlier which meant I didn't have to lie to him.
Mason offered to let me spend the night with him, but considering everything I had gotten off my chest and everything Madison had told me, I thought it'd be best to spend the night alone. I spent all night thinking about whether or not Madison was right.
Her explanation for how I felt was definitely logical, but the longer I pondered it, the less correct it sounded.
I wanted Ethan. In all ways you could imagine, and want was impossible to be mistaken with appreciation.
I'm taken out of my mental battle when the door to the store opens and the small set of chimes above it begin to tinkle through the shop. The person smiles at me as they walk in and I smile as he takes a seat at the table.
"Thank you so much for coming." I say as he gives me a small hug.
"Of course," he replies. "Now tell me. What's been going on?"
I take a deep breath and then, I tell him everything. I spill out everything that's happened since New York up until now and I also tell him about my feelings for a boy I shouldn't be having feelings for.
"Wow," he says when I'm done, and a small fear that he might judge me for everything I've told him begins to appear.
"I know," I groan. "I just know I needed to talk to you about this– to get a second opinion or just any advice at all."
"Do you want my advice as your doctor or as your friend?" he asks.
"Both?" I was willing to hear anything at this point.
"As your doctor I would tell you that you have an unhealthy relationship with the both of them and that maybe you should take time for yourself. But as your friend," he pauses. "As your friend I have to tell you that I think you need to listen to what your heart is telling you."
That was the problem. How was I supposed to listen to my heart when it was torn between two different people?
"Listen Ar, you're obviously having these feelings for a reason and from what you've told me you've tried to suppress them but they're still there. If these feelings weren't real don't you think it'd be easier to get rid of them?"
"You're right," I start. "I just– I just don't know what to do. I've loved Mason since we met, how could I just throw away my feelings for someone I thought was the love of my life for someone who I haven't even known for a year?"
"Love works in confusing ways," he admits. "I am in now way taking either one's side by telling you this, but we can't control who we fall in love with nor how long it takes us to do it. Your feelings for Ethan could be real or they could just be a phase."
I nod at his words and he continues to speak.
"However, regardless of what you truly feel for Ethan, you still need to establish what it is going on with Mason. You can't get married to someone you are no longer in love with, Aria."
"Thank you," I say as we both stand up and I embrace Evan in a hug. "Thank you for listening."
"Any time." He smiles. "Now on a less negative note," he speaks up. "I was wondering if I could bring Rachel along with me to your wedding."
"Of course!" A smile appears on my face. "I can't wait to finally meet her."
I can see the way his smile reaches his eyes at my reaction and I know that my approval of his girlfriend makes him happy. How could I not approve? Whoever was making Evan this happy was definitely worth my approval.
"Actually here," I reach into my small bag and pull out another wedding invitation. I was supposed to be handing out some last minute invites later and I had a few extra. "Let her have her own invitation and each of you can bring a guest if you'd like!"
"Really? Thank you, Ar, that's so sweet of you!"
We decide to buy some iced lattes before walking around the area, passing by all the shops and restaurants. Evan told me about Rachel and how she had moved in with him recently which explained why he was so MIA.
"Hey so I've got a question," I speak up, wanting to put an end to this curiosity.
"Hit me." He replies, taking a sip of his coffee.
"What's Rachel's last-" I'm cut off by his pager going off in his pocket and he quickly retrieves it.
"Sorry," he reads the device. "They need me at the hospital so I've got to go."
"Oh okay." I nod.
"I'll see you at your wedding, and please, let me know if you need anything else." He tells me as he begins to walk off towards the parking lot.
"Will do!" I reply to him before turning around and heading to my own car that was parked on the street.
_____________
[Ethan]
"You and Amber huh?" Rachel turns to me as she closes the door behind Amber. Her mother had called, and she had to leave which meant that it was now time to answer all of Rachel's questions. "Ethan, you could not have possibly forgotten about Aria in a month."
I throw myself onto the couch and she collapses next to me, throwing her legs over my lap.
"Amber and I have only been dating for a few days," I say.
"Okay but what about Ar-"
"Rachel she's marrying Mason!" I raise my voice. Admitting that she was getting married was painful for me, let alone hearing her name.
"So you're just giving up?" She shakes her head in disbelief. "Ethan after all you've done to get her to know how you feel, you're just going to let her go?"
"Yes!" I shout. "It's not what I want, trust me! It's killing me just knowing that she's going to spend the rest of her life with someone else! But what can I do? I can't stop her! She made her choice, and she picked him!"
"But you made your choice too and picked Amber!" She yells back. "You could've fought harder!"
"And how could I have possibly done that?" She doesn't reply and instead retrieves a nude colored envelope from her purse and hands it to me.
I slide the card out of the packaging, and my jaw clenches at the picture of Aria and Edwards with the date of their wedding, the location, and the time written under it.
"Where did you get this?" My eyebrows furrow. I knew Rachel was no friend of Aria's and was therefore not on the guest list.
"Evan is one of Aria's good friends, and she gave him an invitation for his girlfriend which I doubt she knows is me." She smirks. "Each guest can bring a plus one."
"Rachel... I don't know about this."
"Eth, listen to me." She grabs my hand in hers. "I have never seen you fall in love with anyone until now. You deserve to be happy, and if going to that wedding is what it takes to get Aria to be yours, then that's exactly what you have to do. Trust me, if you let her get married, you will spend the rest of your life trying to feel something similar with other people, but you'll never find it again."
It was like Rachel had read my mind. My reason for dating Amber was because I was trying to conform with anyone similar to Aria. I liked Amber, but I loved Aria, and I couldn't let her go.
"You're right," I sigh.
"I'm sorry, come again?" Her head snaps towards me in surprise. "Did Ethan Owens just say I'm right?"
"Yes," I roll my eyes.
"Never thought I'd live to see the day," she teases.
"Shut up," I chuckle.
*** A/N***
Hello beautiful readers! No I am not dead! I have been busy preparing to go back to school and I have therefore not been able to remain as consistent with my book.
Here is another long update for you guys, and I hope it outweighs the wait! Feel free to let me know what you think!
I am also proud to announce that the next chapter will be the final chapter of Long Distance. I am sad to see this book come to an end, but I am also happy to finally finish the story and complete my first book.
Please stay tuned for the last chapter, and thank you for all the support to those who have been reading. I appreciate each and every one of you more than you can imagine, and I can't wait for you guys to read the end of Long Distance.
Till next time babes, love you all and God bless you !
-xoxo
Diana <3