The One That Got Away - Ethan Torchio Fanfic

I Love You But I Love Me More

Our babies are busy recording their new album, and I'm busy writing another chapter!
Enjoy!
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"Long time no see, piano girl."

"D-Damiano?" I looked at him with a mix of surprise and disappointment, I knew what it meant that he was the one standing in front of me. "He's not coming." It wasn't a question, but a confirmation.
"I know I'm not the one you were expecting." He scratched the back of his head, giving me a sad smile. "But at least you're not here alone and stood up, so it could be worse."
"That's true, and I'm glad to see you." I nodded quickly, looking around. "I don't know if you have any plans, but if you don't we could have a coffee together."
"I haven't come here just for the views, so lead the way." He nodded, smiling softly as we started walking to the nearest café, sitting outside at the terrace.
"I guess Victoria already filled you in." I raised one eyebrow, bringing the warm cup of coffee to my lips.
"She did." He quickly nodded, leaning back on his chair while he brought a cigarette to his lips. "And so did Ethan."
"Oh." I looked at him slightly surprised, blinking a few times as I watched the people walking by.
"I'm not going to judge you, I never did it." He shook his head, getting my attention back. "I'm probably the one who most understood why you did it and how complicated is to have a relationship when you have this life. I've lived it first hand."
"There's still no excuse for the way I handled everything, though." I was glad he saw my point of view, but I still was the one to blame. "I shouldn't have erased you from my life the way I did."
"That is true, but you were a kid, we all still are, and we are supposed to make this type of mistakes in order to learn." He nodded, still with the half smile on his lips while he drank his coffee, leaning forward. "What matters here is that you learned something and have decided to make amends."
"When did you get this wise, Mr. David?" I chuckle lightly, nodding my head as I relaxed against my seat.
"That's what heartbreak does to you." He nodded, sighing softly as he mimicked me, sitting back.
"Did you come here because he asked you to?" That was the single thought that had been running through my mind from the moment I saw Damiano standing in front of me, and the one I was most afraid to ask.
"No." He shook his head, taking a deep breath while he clearly tried to find the words to tell me the ugly truth. "He showed me your letter, saying that he didn't want to meet you, he didn't need anything from you, and I quote 'I loved her, but I love me more'." He shrugged lightly his shoulders as he reached for a second cigarette. "I'm not taking sides, I respect and understand his decision, but I didn't want you to be waiting there for hours. He does know that I came."
"To be honest, I didn't think he would show up at all. I had this tiny hope that maybe the letter would spark something in him, I wasn't really counting with that." I shook my head, chuckling lightly as I drank the rest of my coffee. "Thank you for coming, ir means a lot."
"Well, I couldn't miss the opportunity to see again my favorite Macaron." He winked at me, laughing softly as he got up from his seat.

"Can I ask you something?" I raised both eyebrows, looking at him as we walked together down the Boulevard Clichy.
"You already did." He glanced back at me, his shoulders shaking softly as he laughed. "Shoot."
"Why aren't you mad at me for what I did?" I bit down the inside of my cheek, my gaze still on him.
"For starters, we were never as close as you and Victoria were." He pointed out, nodding his head. "And, unlike the rest, I knew that you would come back at some point, you just needed your time. And I was right."
"Technically, I didn't come back. I ran into you guys and Victoria kind of chased me." I laughed softly to myself.
"But you could have ignored her, and continue with your life like you've been doing for the last three years." He shrugged lightly, playfully bumping his shoulder against mine. "But you didn't, you chose to face your mistakes and tried to fix them."
"You made a point there." I nodded, glancing up as we were getting close to my building.
"So, what are you going to do with Ethan?" That was the question I most dreaded, because the answer wasn't what I wished to, but what I had promised to.
"I'll leave him alone, that's what I told him on the letter, and I'll keep my word." I sighed softly, stopping in front of my building. "But I will stay in touch with you guys, I promise I won't disappear again."
"You couldn't either, now we know where you live." Damiano nodded, laughing softly as he looked up at my building. "So there's no way to escape us."

After saying goodbye to Damiano, and waiting for him to get into a taxi, I walked into my apartment ready to take a long bath and wash off the feeling of rejection from me.
"Hey, you're back!" An anxious Elle greeted me as soon as I put a foot in my apartment.
"What are you doing here?" I looked at her, arching my eyebrows as my eyes traveled to the extra set of keys in her hand, the keys I had given her after I moved to the apartment, just for emergencies.
"Okay, before anything, I need you to take a deep breath and relax." She whispered, standing in front of me and preventing me to walk further into the apartment.
"Elle, what the hell is going on?" I was starting to get anxious, realizing that she was acting exactly like the day before, when we ran into the band.
"Okay, so not long after we left, Victoria called me." At that, I raised my eyebrows even more. "Yeah, we exchanged numbers earlier, she's cool." She nodded lightly, and I could swear I saw how her cheeks were getting red. "Anyways, she call me cause she had arrived at the hotel and found 'you know who' there who wasn't planning to meet you, so she wanted me to be here for when you came back."
"Okay, that's really thoughtful of her." I smiled softly, glad that in a way I had gotten back part of our friendship.
"I'm not done." She shook her head, biting down her bottom lip as her gaze traveled to the living room. "While I was waiting here for you to come back, someone came looking for you as well."
"What? Who?" My gaze followed hers as I tried to walk towards the living room, but Elle stopped me again.
"Before you go, please try to calm down, okay." Nodding lightly, I took a deep breath and looked back at Elle. "Alright, I'll go home. Call me later, no matter the time." I nodded again, giving her a quick hug as she turned to leave the apartment.
Not really knowing what was awaiting for me at the living room, I crossed my arms over my chest in a protective way while I slowly walked down my apartment.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I found at the living room. There, leaning against the window while he smoked a cigarette, in all his glory, was the only person I had truly loved, and who suddenly felt like an stranger invading my home.

"You came."

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FINALLY! He took his time, but I wanted Amélie to have some bonding time with Damiano.
The next chapter is going to be emotional, that's all I can say.
Love,
A