Open Heart One Shots (Choices)

Closure

Summary: When an ex asks Ethan for a second chance, he realizes that the past is best left behind.

"This isn't working for me anymore."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"This was the agreement. This has always been the agreement. Or have you forgotten?"

"I've forgotten nothing. But everything is different now."

Ethan Ramsey sighed in frustration and set the empty wine glass down, gazing at Harper Emery across the kitchen island. They'd been having a variation of this argument for the last two days; ever since Harper had told him that she'd accepted the Chief of Medicine position, effectively making her his boss.

He stared at the ceiling hoping for divine wisdom or anything to bring this conversation to an end. But all he got were blind spots from the overhead lights shining into his eyes.

For the last eight years, he and Harper had been engaged in an on-again, off-again relationship. They had mutually agreed to keep it casual in case it interfered with their bigger career ambitions. Now he was calling it off for good because things were different.

Why was Harper pushing back? He thought, baffled at her uncharacteristic stubbornness.

They had fought too hard for their careers for people to gossip about them. It hadn't mattered when they were residents or when they both became attending physicians within a year of each other. Her becoming Chief meant they weren't equals anymore.

He had liked Harper when they initially met during one of his second-year residency rotations. She had been a couple of years ahead of him, halfway through her neurosurgery residency, and he respected how confident she was about owning her skills.

They had both been determined to make their mark professionally. That intellectual connection had been a huge turn-on for him. The physical aspect of their relationship, when it followed shortly after, wasn't bad either.

They enjoyed each other's company, but the impermanence of their interactions had started to feel old after a while. Lately, their "off" times seemed to last longer than their "on" periods, but neither had complained. He would always value their friendship, but whatever more existed between them was over.

He reached for the jacket he'd tossed on the kitchen stool, shrugged it over his broad shoulders, and headed toward the front door. There was no point rehashing everything for the nth time.

"You're leaving?" Harper asked incredulously. "We're still talking!"

"What is there left to say, Harper?" Ethan said objectively, pausing to look back over his shoulder. "We always agreed to keep it casual and convenient. It's not convenient anymore, not for me. We've had a good run, but it's time to move on."

Harper followed hurriedly, pushing past him to lean her back against the door, blocking his exit. "What if I tell the board I've changed my mind about the Chief role?"

Ethan stiffened, his eyes scanning the desperation on her face. His expression softened, and he framed her face between his hands.

"Harper, you deserve the promotion, and you're going to kick ass as Chief," he told her gently. "We always promised each other that our careers came first. Please, don't put me in the position of watching a doctor I respect greatly to give up everything she worked so hard for because of a man. I can't be the one who stands in your way. You'd come to resent me for it one day, and so would I."

Harper sighed and stepped away from the door and him.

"I'm sorry, Ethan," she said, contrite. "It was unfair of me to put this on you. Of course, you're right. One of the reasons we worked so well as a couple was because we weren't really a couple."