Ethan's POV
Sunlight was streaming in through my closed curtains as my eyes were fixed on the wall. Every time I blinked, they hurt. I don't know whether it was from the lack of sleep or...crying.
I loved her. She was leaving. These were the two things that kept playing in my mind as I drove back to my house in the middle of the night.
The memories of last night repeated in my mind. The look on her face when I told her I won't be going over to say goodbye to her, the taste of her lips, the few moments of silence I'd gotten when I told her I loved her, making my heart's pace pick up so quickly in anticipation that maybe she didn't love me back, the relief I felt after she told me she did.
She'd curled up against my chest in that tiny space and closed her eyes. She was asleep in almost no time but sleep was something that I knew I wasn't going to get last night. I made sure to observe every little detail about her face because who knows how long it will be before I get to see her again. The way her eyelashes casted shadows and the way her lips were slightly open as she took steady breaths.
When I was positive she was in a deep sleep, I'd slowly gotten up. Before leaving, I'd removed my jacket and gently placed it on her. Something for her to remember me by, I guess.
I wanted to see one more time but I know that if I did go to say bye to her, it would be too much for me to take. I would lose it, especially if I saw her mom. The woman who was reason Ash was being taken away from me.
This sucks. This sucks so much.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, I sat up on my bed and rubbed my eyes. Getting out of bed, I brushed my teeth and took a long shower. I didn't feel like doing anything. I just wanted to sit and stare into space.
I never really realized when she became such an important part of my life. I never thought that functioning without her around would be difficult. I just felt empty and lost now and I know as dramatic as that is, it was the truth.
Despite wanting to, I made my way down to see mom sitting on the coffee table with a mug and her laptop in front of her. Hearing me near, she looked up and gave me a distorted smile. Great, now she's going to try and make me feel better.
"Hey," she said as I walked to the kitchen. "How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess," I responded, looking through the fridge. "Is there any breakfast?"
"I could make you scrambled eggs," she offered, removing her glasses.
I nodded, not having the capability in me to talk. Closing the lid of her laptop, she walked over and removed the ingredients while she set a pan on the stove.
"Where's Erica?" I asked, flipping through the newspaper which was lying on the kitchen counter.
She hesitated before saying, "She's gone over to Ashley's."
My eyes flicked up to meet hers. "Oh."
"You're not going to go?" she asked after a moment's awkward silence.
I shook my head as a response.
"Oh," she whispered.
Could this get any more awkward? She was holding back from saying something wrong or saying too much.
She sighed and turned to face me. "I know this is difficult for you, Ethan but that doesn't mean you just entirely avoid her. Do you think this is easy for her? You're just losing her but she's losing you and all her friends. She has to go to a new place and restart. If you go to her right now and give her a goodbye, that'll make her feel so much more better and re-assured. As for you, you're going to regret it later that you didn't go to see her one last time."
I let her words sink in. Should I go? Will it actually make her feel better?
"Don't look at me! Go!" she exclaimed.
Right. What was I doing? Of course I wanted to meet her! I pulled out my phone and dialed Erica's number.
"Hello?" she answered, sounding slightly surprised.
"Erica, is Ashley still there?" I asked hurriedly.
"She..." she trailed of as if she was thinking about how to answer a simple yes or no question. What am I supposed to do with my stupid sister? "I'm sorry, Ethan. She's already at the airport. We're at a café nearby if you want to join us."
The sudden adrenaline and excitement died instantly. It was too late. Mom was looking at me eagerly but as my shoulders sagged, she realized.
"Sure," I said.
"I'll text you the address," she replied and I hung up.
"I'm so sorry, Ethan," mom said as soon as I hung up on Erica.
"It's not your fault, it's mine," I responded with a shrug.
"Oh, honey, don't say that," she said and reached forward to hug me.
Sighing, I wrapped my arms around her. I pulled away a while later and told her I won't be having breakfast. Grabbing my car keys and changing into a plain white t-shirt, I made my way to my car. Following the address Erica gave me, I reached near the café. She really needed to work on her distance skills because the café was definitely not 'near' Ashley's house.
I entered the café to see Michael, Abby and Erica seated in a corner booth. As I neared them, Erica got up and to my surprise, hugged me. Receiving affection from Erica was something that happened on very rare occasions.
"Where's Jared?" I asked, sitting down after our hug.
"He..." Michael started saying but Abby cut in, "He had to help his dad with some work."
I nodded and ordered myself a coffee. All of us sat there in silence. Abby and Michael's hands were intertwined on Abby's lap. That simple action made me think about her again. I missed her. Is this how things are going to be from now on? Am I going to miss her every second of the day?
Erica cleared her throat, breaking the silence. "We're going to go over to Jared's place tonight, are you going to join us?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so."
"Why?" Abby asked which made me want to glare at her. Was she seriously asking me that?
"I just don't want to," I replied, trying to sound as polite as I could.
"Ethan," Erica began. Great, another emotional speech from another Wilson; I wonder what Dad has in store for me tonight. "I think you should come. It'll help you get your mind off of...things."
"Erica, I said I don't want to," I told her firmly.
"I agree with her," Michael said. I did glare at him. "You should come tonight."
"Guys, I just want to be left alone, okay?" I said, ending the discussion. Once my coffee came, I grabbed it and told them I'll see them later and left.
I don't care if I sounded rude but they weren't being the most understanding people either.
*
I was playing my guitar in the evening when Erica barged into my room without knocking and walked to my wardrobe.
"What're you doing?" I asked, putting my guitar on the stand.
She pulled out a red and blue plaid shirt and threw it in my direction.
"Put that on," she instructed. "We're leaving in ten minutes."
"Leaving?" I asked, confused. "To where?"
"Jared's," she replied.
"Erica, I told you I didn't want to go!" I exclaimed, throwing the shirt back at her.
"And I told you that we're leaving in ten minutes," she said, calmly.
"You can't force me to go," I said, frowning.
She sighed. "Ethan, please? I just want to help you. You can't just stop living your life just because she's gone."
"I haven't stopped living my life," I responded, frustrated. "I just want to be left alone for today."
"Please just come," she pleaded, all of sudden. "I can't see you like this."
My expression softened. Erica didn't usually show affection towards me but when she did, I always made sure to take it seriously.
I sighed and agreed, "Fine. I'll be down in ten minutes."
She smiled and nodded. Picking up the plaid shirt from the floor, I put it over my white t-shirt. Running my hands through my hair, I made it look messy, just the way Ash liked it. I was done in two minutes, it was Erica who needed the ten minutes.
Once she was ready, we left the house. Jared's house wasn't that far from mine and in about fifteen minutes, we were at his doorstep.
Ringing the bell, Jared opened the door. To my surprise, he looked happy which seemed quite odd to me. But then, again, I expected everyone to be sad.
"Hey," he said and gave Erica a quick hug.
Michael and Abby were already lounging on the couch when we entered. Ugh. I have a feeling I'm going to dislike seeing the happy couple often.
"There are drinks in the fridge and some food in the kitchen if you want," Jared said as I sat on the couch next to Michael. "I'll be back in a minute."
Walking to the fridge, I pulled out a canned drink and opened it. When I walked back to the living room, Jared was walking back down and a minute later, a girl followed him.
Not just any girl, it was Ashley.
Was it? Or was I seeing things now?
My head whipped around to see Erica, Michael and Abby looking at me with wide, giddy smiles on their faces. I looked back to see her smiling at me.
What on earth was going on?
I didn't waste time trying to think of possible explanations as to why she was here, I left my drink on the table and made my way to her. Jared stepped on the side to let her run down the last few steps and into my arms.
It was her. It was really her.
I hugged her so tight that I was positive I broke a rib or two but I didn't care. She was in my arms at this very moment, which is all that mattered. I buried my face in her dark hair and squeezed my eyes shut. Her arms were around my neck and softly caressing the back of my hair.
It was her.
I still couldn't believe it.
I pulled back to stare into her deep green eyes briefly before I leaned down and kissed her. She kissed me back with equal eagerness and we were lost in our own world, ignoring the groans of puking sounds that our friends were making behind us.
I rubbed the pads of my thumbs on her cheeks. She was actually here. How was she here?
I pulled away, panting. "What-how-what-"
Her laughter cut me off. The sound of her sweet laugh, I missed that.
"I didn't go," she breathed with a smile.
"What?"
She didn't answer but stood on her tip-toes and kissed me again. Well, I wasn't going to complaint about that and kissed her back, placing my hand on lower back and pulling her closer to me. I was well aware of my friends watching us but I really was way beyond caring.
She pulled away but her lips were still near mine. "I love you."
"I love you so much more," I said, realizing how much I loved her.
We stood there like that for a moment, our foreheads touching, our breaths mingling and our bodies pressed closed together.
"Story time!" Abby yelled, excited.
A/N- Hellooo! I know, this was a complete surprise. For those of you who were confused, this is kind of like a continuation from Chapter 36. This was something that was requested by loads of you guys when I was in the process of writing the book. I had even promised a reader I would post it as a bonus chapter but I never got around to it. Now that I had the time, I decided to write it.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I can't believe it's been so long since I finished writing this book and the amount of support I've gotten from all of you; it's incredible. MBFB has received over 2 million reads and I can't thank all of you enough for that. <3
On another note, I'm currently in the process of writing another book called The Valentine's Note. I did talk about it here previously. If you're interested, go ahead and have a look at that. You can find it on my profile.
Once again, thank you for your support. I love all of you. <3