next door ↬ ethma

fifteen

"Don't go, please." Emma begs, grabbing his hand to pull him back in the doorway.

"I'll be back before you know it, I just gotta do a few things." Ethan replied.

Emma huffs, pulling him into a hug as she mumbles inconceivable words into his hoodie. As much as she is an addict with coffee, it will never hold the same spot in her heart as the one Ethan has.

She's also really good at dramatizing situations. He was only leaving for a few hours to spend time with his brother. Which is totally fair, but c'mon they had 19 years together. Why couldn't she just get a week of his time? She laughs at the thought, that was stupid.

Ethan peers down at Emma, and taps his finger on her nose. He leans down to connect their lips with his hands on her waist, pulling her in closer. At that moment, Grayson walks out of his apartment.

"Can you guys makeout somewhere else?" He says, chuckling.

Ethan turns his head, "What? Like your room?"

Grayson ignores his comment, "Hey, Em."

Emma looks down and blushes, "Hi, Gray."

Ethan kisses her again, this time just a quick peck and he pulls out a folded note from his hoodie pocket and places it in her hand.

She doesn't even realize it at first, until they've said their goodbyes and the door is closed, leaving her alone in her apartment. She looks down and admires the note in hand. Emma doesn't even know how she got so lucky with Ethan, the boy that writes her love letters.

Em,

I knew the moment I first saw you, that you were it. I set my eyes on you and that was all there was to it. Getting to know you better, only verified my previous thoughts. I'm really set for life with you. I adore the sparkle in your eyes and your adorable laugh and the feeling I get when you touch me. You make me feel safe, you're like a home away from home. These last four months with you has really made me the happiest boy alive, and it's because of you. I love you, and yes I know it may be early to say that but I couldn't hold it in any longer. I've felt this way towards you for so long, I just wanted to wait for the right time.

Love,
E <3

Emma is almost crying after she finishes reading it. Actually, she is. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, but for the best possible reason. To be loved and to love is one of the most astounding feelings in the world. No other person could produce the same feelings she has than Ethan.

Finding someone that brings out the best in your worst days and make the good days even better, is the ultimate joy. Ethan takes the little things and turns them into something even bigger than she could have ever thought possible. Her tears were always wiped away by him but her smiles only grew larger. The universe stops feeling vast and endless when she's with him because everything that she wants is always in arm's reach.

She had always joked about being single and lonely forever, never realizing how sad of a life that truly would be. Once she knew what it felt like to be completely vulnerable to another person and to not be judged, she knew she needed to keep him around forever.

Ethan is not her other half. No. She is already a whole by herself, and the same goes for him. He's not the reason for living, but whereas he makes life even more worth living. They're not incomplete without the other but instead infinitely growing —both together and separately— everyday.

The current love in this generation has set its standards too low. Emma is grateful that with Ethan, it's far from that. He does the simplest tasks for her without expecting them to be repaid. He's aware of the things she likes and goes above and beyond to make her happy. Everything is done for love, and because of that her days are always better than the ones before.

She folds the note back up to the way it was before and places it in a box in her closet. She had to find a new spot to keep them after her fridge ran out of available space. She actually went to a craft store to find a cute box that she especially assigned for Ethan's letters only. Emma rereads them occasionally and reminisces in the words that started it all.

She wants to text Ethan and tell him she loves him too, but important words such as those don't deserve to be stated in a text message. They deserve to be said in a way that means so much more. So as much as she was dying to tell him how she felt, she decided it was the better option to wait until she saw him in person.

Emma debates on writing him a letter back and expressing all the love she felt for him, and she decides to go for it. Although, she still did want to tell him in person first, it was a nice gesture to finally write him back. This way, she can get all her feelings out without getting mushy face to face.

The time went by faster than she expected, she thought the minutes were going to drag by as she waited for him. However, she got caught up in her euphoric state and gained the motivation to do many of the tasks she had put off before. Oh, what love does to a person.

As Emma is editing some photos from a photoshoot taken weeks earlier, she's interrupted by a knock at her door. She grows excited realizing that Ethan was already back. She tries to collect herself before answering the door.

"Hi baby—" Ethan says, being shortly cut off by an abrupt kiss.

Her love couldn't be expressed in only three words, as much as they are significant, she needed to show it. She pressed her lips against his and it took a moment for Ethan to process what was happening and kiss back. But once he does, the intensity was plain to see. She lets go after a good minute has gone by, not wanting to give a show to any of their other neighbors.

"I love you." Emma says.