dogfight-e.d

twenty four

saturday morning and ethan is driving over to rey's to try to talk again. after his last attempt which ended with rey snapping at him and then calling out his brother and old friends, he decided to give her some space before trying again. he hasn't tried to approach her the whole week at school, just kept to himself now that he doesn't have any friends. his old ones made sure none of the other popular kids speak to him anymore and to be honest he likes it. he needs a clean slate from all those people.

he eventually pulls up to rey's house but is confused when he sees a moving truck with men carrying out boxes to load into it. his heart starts to pound in his chest as his eyes scan whats going on in front of him. he tries to spot rey and soon does, she's talking to jacob and saying goodbye, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. ethan starts to panic, is she moving? she cant possibly be moving. he stumbles out of the car and heads over to the house, mrs banks is ruffling jacob's hair before she climbs into a car with a man, rey's uncle. rey slings a back over her shoulder and gives jacob one last hug, whispering how much she loves him in his ear. when she pulls away and goes to get in the car with her mother she notices ethan walking towards her, his face plastered with confusion.

she nervously bites her lip and stays still, her chest heaving as the boy gets closer to her. when he reaches her he just stands in front of her, momentarily lost for words and still trying to make sense of the situation. "rey....rey whats going on?" ethan finally asks, his voice hoarse. rey bites the inside of her cheek, "im moving ethan". the words are like a stone in ethan's heart, he blinks in confusion and shakes his head. "what do you mean? moving? why...why are you moving?" he stutters and rey tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. she didn't want this to happen at first, she didn't want to have to talk to ethan before leaving town but now she can't avoid it. he's right here in front of her.

"my mom and I have to move, we're going to live with my uncle and ill be starting a new school there" rey explains calmly but ethan just grows more confused. "so...so you're just leaving? you were gonna go without even saying goodbye?" ethan's voice becomes strained with hurt and rey notices tears starting to form in his eyes. she blinks and it suddenly hits her. ethan must really care for her, she can see his hurt, feel it. she feels her own eyes pricking with tears.

"I didn't want to...I was still so hurt by what you did" she tells him quietly "and I still.....as mad at you as I am I still...really like you". ethan sucks in his lip and steps closer to her so there's only a few inches between them. "rey" he says in a now calmer voice but its still a little shaky "I am so sorry that I only dated you at first for a stupid bet. I regret it so much now that I look back on it. I wish it had never started that way but I really do love you now. please forgive me and give us another go. I promise you, you wont regret it". rey thinks for a moment, a small part of her wants to say yes and give ethan and their relationship another go. but she can't.

she looks down at her feet, the tears starting to roll down her cheeks. ethan cups her face gently to lift it so they're looking at each other again. "I love you" he says and rey can feel that its true. "I love you too" she whispers and ethan bursts into a smile, tears dropping from his eyes. "but I cant be with you" rey says and ethan's smile quickly fades, his heart breaking from what she's just said. "im sorry I cant...I forgive you but I cant be with you right now, I need to focus on myself and I cant be with anyone right now" rey explains "but I wont forget you, ethan dolan".

ethan closes his eyes and his hands drop from her face, "is that what you really want?" he asks and secretly hopes that she'll say no so they really can be together. rey looks at him for a moment and nods her head, eyes glossy with tears and ethan feels his heart tear in two.

"then I guess this is goodbye...my little sun rey".

rey nearly chokes at that and so wraps her arms around ethan and hugs him tighly as she can. ethan's arms embrace her body into his and he prays that she wont let go. he's missed the feel of her warmth against his, the feel of her heartbeat. rey sniffles and eventually pulls away, smiling sadly at ethan and cups his cheek with her hand. there's a silence between them but its a comfortable one. rey has realised that ethan is truly sorry and has forgiven him. even though he doesn't have her he can accept that because he knows she loves him.

rey reaches up and presses her lips to his and ethan practically melts into her. he kisses her as hard as he can but still with passion, aching for the taste of her. rey pulls away when she feels most of the air taken from her lungs. she keeps her forehead pressed to ethan's and tries to catch her breath.

"goodbye ethan" rey whispers quietly, pulling away and then picking up her bag. she walks away but ethan grabs her hand, wanting to touch it one more time. rey lets him squeeze it and she strokes his skin with her thumb. soon she pulls away and ethan feels empty when her touch leaves him. he watches with sad eyes as rey walks to the car, looking back to wave at jacob and then looks over to ethan. he nearly bursts into tears as he thinks about never being able to see those beautiful eyes again. he hangs onto every second before rey gets in the car, his heart aching more when it starts to drive away. taking the first girl he's ever really loved away from him.

he stays standing there until the car has vanished from sight, the feel of his last kiss with rey still burning on his lips.