"she told you that?" mia asks, shocked. she held her wine glass in one hand, her other hand over her mouth.
i nodded. sipping my glass as i watched ethan and andi from afar.
we were at aria and noah's wedding which was at a small lake house, but big enough for the guests. i haven't seen aria nor noah yet, but i couldn't wait to.
"this is a good thing, isn't it? i mean, don't you like him?" mia asks in a duh tone.
"yeah i do, but i'm hearing everything from his five year old daughter! i don't even know if he feels the same way." i exclaim.
mia shakes her head, "i'm sure he does. i mean, andi's mom is long gone. there's no woman in his life besides you. and why would he tell andi all those stories if he didn't feel a little something, you know?"
"i'm just scared of rejec—"
"oh my god! it's aria!" mia says, raising her voice a bit. she yelps, waving crazily at aria. she spots both of us, opening her mouth wide. she screams, running over to us.
"oh my god! i missed you both sooo much!" aria says, embracing us both in a hug. "i'm so glad you made it."
"yes of course. congratulations, aria. i'm so happy for you!" i tell her, still embraced in our hug.
"yes! the only relationship out of all of us to last out of college," mia jokes, laughing.
"hey, i wanted to ask." i turn to aria. she smiles, an eyebrow raised, waiting for me to ask my question. "have you heard from izzy?"
arias eyebrows furrowed, and suddenly i immediately thought something was wrong. "she didn't tell you guys?"
we shook our heads no. "isabelle left for the army right after college."
"what? really?" mia asked, shocked.
"yeah. she didn't take the breakup well, as we all knew. but, she works for the military as of now." aria explains. "even when she's done serving, it's not like she'll speak to us again. i seriously think she's done with us."
"why? we didn't do anything wrong?" i wondered. oh izzy.
aria shrugged. "izzy was off when she left. like she just wanted to leave her past behind. alex took a toll on her, not gonna lie."
"god, i hope she's happy." mia states.
someone calls aria over and she dismisses herself from us and walks over to another group of girls our age whom she probably met over the years and are her good friends.
"hey, andi also asked me what happened to her mom. do you know by any chance?" i asked mia in hopes she was still dating grayson at that time.
hesitantly, she nodded. "yes, but it's not my story to tell. if you want to know, maybe you can ask ethan. although i'm pretty sure it's a sensitive subject."
"that just makes me more scared to ask." i scoffed at myself.
she shrugged, "let it just be the right time." she explains. "it's not like he was super stuck up on her anyways. he'll tell you eventually if he wants to move forward with you."
"thanks, mia." i sighed.
she nods, "now go hang out with them. i'm gonna go congratulate noah."
i watch her as she leaves me, walking over to noah who is standing alone at the snack table, grabbing things to drink. i look back at ethan and andi, watching as they sat together at the table.
taking a deep breath, i walk over to them. ethan looks up from andi and smiles at me. "hey." he simply says.
i smiled back, a tiny chuckle escaping my lips. "hey." i sit down on the other side of andi, and she looks up at me.
"wow, you look pretty." she says, looking at my heels to the curls in my hair. "i like your necklace! it says my name!"
i hold my necklace in my fingers, showing it closer to her. "thank you! and yes, it does say your name." i laughed.
"why though?" she asked, a confused expression on her face.
i glance up at ethan who's already looking at me, a faint but genuine smile on his face. "uhh.." i chuckled, "it was a gift. someone used to call me andi too."
andi and i continued to talk about the necklace. i occasionally complimented her outfit so she would drop the questions about the meaning behind it, and who called me andi all the time.
"hey andi!" andrea comes up to us, millie hand in hand with her. "there's a pretty garden over there. do you wanna check it out with millie and i?"
andi frantically nods her head, jumping out of her seat. millie smiles her brightest and andi holds andrea's other free hand. "don't worry, i won't steal her for long." andrea claims, smiling as she left.
i kind of sat there awkwardly as did he. looking at things around us other than us ourselves. i wanted to say something, talk about what happened when i was gone, but how to bring up the conversation was something i had no idea how to do.
suddenly he stands up, holding his hand out for me to take. "let's go to the lake." he says, a small smile rests on his lips. i take his hand as he leads us to the lake.
it felt nice, holding his hand and such. gosh, i feel like a little high school girl all over again.
as i walk with him, we exit through the double doors of the back patio. grayson stands out there with alex and some other guys. he and i make eye contact, then he glances down at ethan and i's hands.
he geeks about this, sending a thumbs up as he smiled from ear to ear. i chuckled to myself, shaking my head at his immature behavior.
i took one look at the lake and suddenly i was in love. it was beautiful. living in the cities, i barely stepped foot into places like this. i almost forgot what it was like, for i haven't done much of this nature stuff since college and high school.
"wow," i say under my breath. we sit at a bench at the end of a dock. his hand tapping against the arm of the bench, his other resting on his thigh.
the sun was already beginning to set. and watching it was amazing. "i've been wanting to ask." i state, already really nervous about this entire thing.
he looks up from the water at me, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he waited for me to proceed.
i clamped my hands together, resting them on my lap. with a bit of hesitation, i proceeded. "what happened to... andi's mother?"
his expression drops, and now i know i've asked a question in which i maybe shouldn't have. but i was going to ask eventually. i wanted to know so badly. because i wanted to be apart of ethan's life, as silly as it sounds.
i could see he had so much hesitation running through his body. i was waiting patiently for an answer, but nothing. he didn't want to speak.
"i'd rather not talk about it." he simply says, returning his attention to the lake and the pretty sunset.
my expression dropped. not because i was disappointed he didn't give me an answer but because i was disappointed in myself for pushing it. i've been here only for a couple of months, and since then i've spent so much time with ethan and andi; i thought he'd open up.
but like mia said, it was a sensitive subject. and if he wasn't ready to tell me i had to respect that.
"okay." i say, just above a whisper. i wanted him to know that it was okay if he didn't tell me.
maybe something bad happened. maybe he fell in love again. whatever it is, it hurts him so bad, he can't even tell his own daughter.
and that, hurts me.
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
sorry i've been gone for so long. i was in chicago for a couple days, then i came home and spent late nights with my cousins and we wouldn't come home until like four in the morning.
but yeah, i'm back now.
BUT i'm going to hawaii in like six days so i might be gone for two weeks ?? idk maybe. we'll see if i have the free time to write then lol.
anyways, see you guys soon. PEACE