The One That Got Away - Ethan Torchio Fanfic

Brighter Than Sunshine

"If we want to start over, we need to do it where everything started."

In that moment, a part of me wanted to throw myself into his arms, forget about everything but him and pretend that this was an old Hollywood movie where the main characters melt into a passionate kiss. But we weren't in a movie, and I wasn't Audrey Hepburn in the last scene on Breakfast at Tiffany's. Although, it did feel like a dream, and for a second I even thought of pinching myself to make sure I was awake and this was a reality.
"Let's take a walk and find a nice place to sit." Ethan woke me up from my micro-daydreaming as he started walking down a path I hadn't walked in three years.
It was then when I realized that he was holding a picnic basket, and that was the confirmation that he had thought long and hard about this day, because he had planned everything.
"Let's go sit under that tree." He turned to me, pointing to a big tree that was throwing shadow.

After helping him placing the blanket on the grass, we sat down only a few inches apart from each other.
"I don't know why I'm nervous." He shook his head, chuckling lightly as he looked down at the basked.
"I am too." I nodded, smiling as I leaned back against the tree. "I guess, this kind of feels like a first date, but it carries some baggage as well."
"I just don't know how to do this." He sighed, opening the basket and getting a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
"I'm lost too, Ethan." I admitted, reaching to rest my hand on his knee. "We have to come clean, about everything, and start from there. We can go as slow as you need."
"I'm scared of getting hurt again." He finally turned to look at me, opening the bottle of wine and pouring some into the glasses before handing me one of them. "My life changed the moment we met, but it also changed when you left me."
"I know, and I'll regret forever what I did." I nodded, sighing softly as I took a sip of wine. "I don't expect you to trust me again just like that, only to give me the change to gain your trust again, day by day."
"I think I can do that." He nodded, looking down at the basket for a second before leaning back against the tree, looking deep in thought.
"Ethan, you can ask me anything." I tilted my head slightly, looking at him as I could see his internal conflict.
"I know you told me already that you haven't been with anyone in this three years." He started talking, still with his gaze down as he tried to find the words. "But, if you had kept all your memories and feelings for me locked in a box, what did it stop you to be with someone, even if it was just a fling?"
"The fact that I kept everything related to you hidden, and it was just to stop myself being in pain, doesn't mean that, everytime someone would show some interest in me, I would think of how you made me feel and that no one would be able to make me feel that way ever." I closed my eyes, sighing softly while I looked down at my glass of wine. "It's hard to explain and understand, but I loved you when I left you, and I still loved you afterwards. Those feelings never disappeared."
"So, do you still love me?" He finally lifted his gaze to look at me.
"There's no reason to deny it." I nodded, bitting the inside of my cheek as my eyes found his. "But, I would like to keep that word until we figure out if we can do this."
"Why?" He raised his eyebrows, clearly looking disappointed at my reply.
"Because I don't want to put that pressure on us when we are trying to start over." Nodding, I reached for his hand, lacing my fingers with his. "You're not the only one who is afraid of getting hurt here."

"I guess, if we are doing this thing of starting over, we should do it the right way." We had been sitting in silence for like fifteen minutes, just enjoying the quite and peace of the park when Ethan turned to me. "I'm Ethan, the drummer."
I couldn't help but start to laugh out loud, as he tried to look serious while he introduced himself to me like he did at the interviews, as if this was the first time we met. "I know, I'm a big fan." I nodded, still laughing while I shook his hand, following his lead. "I'm Amélie, I'm from Paris and I just moved here to finish college."
"That's really interesting." He nodded, smirking softly as he sat back. "So, you mentioned you're a fan."
"Yeah, I have all your records and kind of know everything about you, cause you're my favorite member of the band." I bit my bottom lip, trying to keep myself from laughing again. "But not in a creepy way, though."
"Oh, for some reason I thought your favorite one would be Damiano." He chuckled lightly, winking at me while he took a sip of his wine.
"I mean, Damiano is cool and all of that. My mother has a crush on him, though." I nodded, mimicking him as I took another sip of wine. "But he doesn't awaken any type of feelings in me."
"And I do?" He raised his eyebrows, the smirk widening on his lips when I nodded my head again. "What type of feelings do I awaken in you?"
"We just met, I'm not going to reveal everything on our first date." I quickly shook my head, suddenly feeling shy as I felt how he was reading me with his intense stare. "But they're good feelings."
"That's good to know." He nodded, reaching to get some food containers from inside the basket. "The feelings are mutual."
"Let's play a game." I moved slightly on the blanket so I was facing him, laughing as he was already making a weird face. "You don't even know the game I have in mind, it's perfect for our special first date."
"All I know is that games always bring trouble." He shrugged lightly, grabbing a sandwich from the container while I looked at him with a pout on my lips. "Fine, tell me about your game."
"Yes!" I quickly nodded, getting a sandwich as he handed me the container while eating. "This is a story game, I will start telling a story and you will have to continue it until you decide to stop, so I can continue it, and so on, til we reach the end of it."
"Alright, that can be fun." He smiled, nodding as he continued eating.

"So, this story is about a sad girl, she was lost, she didn't know what she was feeling or what she wanted. The only time she was happy was when she visited a hidden garden, a garden full of flowers of all the colors you could imagine. She could spend hours alone in that garden that she felt it was a secret, because only her ever visited it." I turned to him, smiling as I waited for him to continue the story.
"Or so she thought, because this story is not only about a girl, but also about a boy. A boy who always stayed in the shadows, hiding behind the trees surrounding the garden. Just like the girl, he was sad and lost, but he thought he was the only one feeling that way, because everytime he visited the garden and saw the girl there, she was always smiling at the flowers. And that made him feel jealous, jealous of her happiness and jealous of the flowers for earning her smile just because their mere existence." He moved closer, glancing at me before he turned to lay down, resting his head on my lap.
"One day, when she was visiting her special garden, she felt observed, she felt the eyes of someone in the shadows, but it didn't bother her, she was curious, because someone else had found the garden. She wanted to call for the stranger who was looking at her, but she was afraid she would scare them. So, she stayed in the garden, sitting surrounded by the flowers while she started singing a song from her childhood." Closing my eyes, I leaned back and started singing softly a song in French that my grandma used to sing to me whenever I felt sad, or when I scratched my knees at the park, which was really common. A few seconds after finishing the song, I opened my eyes and looked down just to find a very surprised Ethan looking up at me.
"I didn't know you could sing." He smiled, reaching to cup gently my cheek.
"Shhh... we are supposed to finish the story." I grinned widely, tilting my head to kiss him palm. Nodding, he closed his eyes and continued with our story.
"He had never heard such a beautiful voice before and, even though he couldn't understand the lyrics of the song, he did feel drawn by it. Without realizing it, he found himself venturing into the bloomed garden, and before the girl finished the song, he sat there, in front of her, admiring the beauty of the garden stranger." Ethan opened his eyes, letting me know it was my turn.
"She had felt the stranger approaching him, and she couldn't help the little smile on her lips when she opened her eyes and found him sitting in front of her. He was a stranger but, for some reason, she felt she already knew him, something told her that he was like her, a sad soul trying to find peace and happiness and, for the first time in her life, she didn't feel alone." Running my fingers through his long hair, I looked down at Ethan and nodded, knowing that our story game was coming to an end, and I wanted him to write it.
"The boy felt himself getting lost in her green olive eyes, he wanted to tell her that he was alone too, just like she was, that he felt and understood her, but her beauty kept him speechless. So, instead, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her, knowing that from that day they wouldn't feel alone anymore."

"I missed this place so much." I sighed, squeezing gently Ethan's hand as we walked inside our stone hidden place. "I never thought I would see it again."
After we finished our story game, and the food and drinks he had brought, Ethan suggested that we took a walk before leaving the park, and that walk led us to the place where we kissed for the first time. We had kissed before that, but it was because of the drinking game on my birthday party so, for me, our first real kiss happened in the built-in cave.
"The memories that this place holds." I grinned, turning to look at Ethan after hearing a 'click' sound, finding him holding a camera and taking a picture of me.
"New beginnings, new pictures." He nodded, smiling as he took another picture before walking towards me.
"Thank you for today." I took a step closer, resting my hands on his chest as our faces were just a few inches apart. "It was perfect."
He just nodded, determination written on his face as he reached with his free hand and cupped my cheek, my head tilting slightly against his gentle touch while he leaned forward, closing the gap between us and pressing his lips against mine.
I felt shivers running down my spine at the feeling of his lips moving gently against mine in a sweet and soft kiss. A kiss I had been waiting for months, or maybe years. A kiss sealing our new beginning, a new relationship, a new future together.

"I'll think of this every time I find myself missing you."
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It finally happened!!!
And I have to say that the end is near, maybe in a couple of chapters. BUT, I'm already working on a couple of ideas for new fics.
I hope you liked it!
Love,
A