fight for you (e.dolan)

twenty-seven

ethan hopped around the side of the car, waiting for me to close the door so he could take my hand again. i attempted to walk up the stone pathway leading to his front door, but ethan silently redirected me across the grassy front lawn, to a gate at the side of the house.

the moment we stepped across the threshold of his backyard, i dropped ethan's hand in shock. the entire yard was lit up with lights that must have taken hours to string up, and they all led toward one main source that glowed with past memories just as much as they did all the warm bulbs.

"i know this is kind of a lame excuse for a date, but—"

"no," i said around a sigh of content, turning around in circles to take in the scene around me and struggling to relax my grin. standing there, i could remember exactly why ethan had brought me to his house. "this is perfect."

"do you remember the first time we ever came up to this treehouse?" ethan asked. memories of the first time i had been up here, in the old treehouse residing in the dolan's backyard, resurfaced in sweet glimpses and whispers of lost words in my ear. we had only ever come out here one time, and it was still one of my favourite moments to look back on.

"the day you asked me out," i answered easily, letting my hands grip around the cool metal of the ladder and working my way up the base of the tree. in a few short seconds, my head was popping up out of the entrance and i could hear ethan beginning his own climb up. i hoisted myself over the rest of the way, expecting when i rose again to my feet that i would be covered in dirt. but looking around i noticed that the treehouse was spotless from corner to corner. in the middle of the floor, there was ethan's laptop and a pile of blankets. "i could never forget that."

it was true. i would never forget the night, from the way ethan dressed, to the way he looked at me, to the playlist of music he put together just for me that we danced around to for hours on end or the terrible choice of movie we ended the night with. i would never forget the way he kissed me, like it was what he'd been waiting for all his life. and i would never forget feeling like as long as i was with him, nothing would ever feel wrong again. in fact, even after everything happened, a part of me continued to feel that way. maybe it was because no matter what happened, that night could never be tainted for me. it would never be brushed over with the dark reminders of what happened only a week before it. i wouldn't let it.

"so you'll remember this," ethan suggested, reaching into a small box pushed to the side that looked like it once held toys. he pulled out his speaker, the same small red one that played the song i thought of as ours ever since the night he asked me out. the speaker turned on with a small beep, and i bit down on my bottom lip in anticipation as ethan began to play trojans by atlas genius, a song i'd loved and failed to get tired of since i first heard it two years prior.

"yeah, i do." i closed my eyes, letting the music dance with the light wind just so that it played softly in my ears.

"i think about that night a lot," ethan whispered. his voice seemed to blend in with the rest of the flashbacks floating around in my brain, giving me warmth in the cool air of the night.

"yeah, so do i. i still smile every time i scroll past 'superbad' on netflix. that was like, the least romantic movie you ever could have had playing in the background as you asked me to be your girlfriend." i giggled, sitting on the cold wood with my feet dangling over the edge of the treehouse. ethan lowered himself next to me and playfully bumped my shoulder before throwing his arm around me.

"it's my favourite movie, and you wouldn't tell me what you wanted to watch!" he argued back, his voice finding a higher octave than i'd ever heard before. i erupted into a fit of giggles, unable to ignore the way his arm playfully tightening around my shoulder made me feel.