editing ; e.n.

{ 18 }

Belle's POV
I was shocked. I didn't know how to react. I stood there, staring blankly into the eyes of my "parents". I wanted to hug them, but I also wanted to walk away. I did neither. Amy and Kathryn walked away, giving me time alone with them. "Belle?" I heard my mother say for the first time. I shivered and had gotten knots in my stomach, I did and didn't like how my name sounded from her mouth. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go sit somewhere." Grandma said as she walked to the nearest restaurant.

I felt my phone buzz, I took it out and saw, one again, Ethan was calling. I answered. "Hello?" He sighed a sigh of relief. "WHERE WERE YOU?! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER!" He yelled, he yelled so loud I had to move the phone away from my ear. "I'm so sorry," I said quietly, "I got caught up with something. I'm completely fine, but I don't know when I'll be able to come home." The line got quiet.

"Okay," he said calmly, "be safe. Bye." I quickly said bye and hung up.

—
We sat down at a table on the exterior patio. No one said a word, I stared down at the table until Grandma decided to speak. "Okay, come on. Sophie," she looked at my mom, "Jay?" she looked at my dad, "Nothing? Belle? Someone say something for heaven's sake!" I put my hand on Grandma's hand to calm her. "So," Jay started speaking, "how have you been?" I shrugged. I could be better if I wasn't here. "I'm okay." Both of them kept taking turns to ask me random questions. Soon enough, about 45 minutes passed and I was tired but, they kept talking. "So, what do you do for a living?" Not thinking that this may sound stupid, I blabbered out my actual job.

"I edit youtube videos." After a few seconds, I realized how much of an idiot I sounded like. Both Sophie and Jay exchanged looks. "Editing? Really?" Sophie looked at me. "At least I didn't run away from my kid." I scoffed. I felt her eyes pierce into mine. "At least I can get a real job." I looked at her, wanting to punch her face off. I tried to keep my cool. "What are you gonna' put on your resume? Youtube editor?" She laughed but Jay tried to keep her calm.

She went on, insulting what I do best. Then I had enough, I stood up from my chair looking her right in her eyes. "Editing isn't just a job, it lead me to love!" Or so I think. And with that I was off. I walked out of that restaurant quickly with tears streaming down my cheeks. I hailed a cab and went back to the apartment.

—
I unlocked the door to see a trail of white and red rose petals. Confused I followed them, and with each step my smile grew just a bit bigger. I continued to walk until I reached Ethan's bedroom. The door was shut and had a sign that said 'Please Knock!' So, I knocked. "Who is it?" Ethan called. "It's me!" I heard his voice say something I didn't quite hear. "Come in!" I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

More rose petals lined the floor and Ethan stood there, at the end of the path. He was wearing a white dress shirt, a black tie, and black dress pants. He had his hands behind his back and had a smile as big as mine. I walked up to him, confused but with hundreds of butterflies in my stomach. "Why?" I said quietly. He smiled a little bit more and brought his hands in front of him. He handed me a bouquet of flowers and a small box. "Open it."

I did so and saw a gold necklace with a locket charm on it. I looked at him with wide eyes. He motioned for me to open the locket. I followed what he told me and I saw a picture of us two when we were kids. A silly little photo of us playing together. I felt tears well up, I looked up at Ethan and I hugged him. So many emotions were zooming through me. After a while of just standing there and hugging, we pulled back. "So," he started speaking, "you wanted to know why I did all of this?" He gestured toward everything and I nodded. "I'll answer that with a question." He looked at me for a good second. Staring into my eyes, staring at my lips... taking in every single detail of my face.

"Do you wanna' go out sometime?"