The soft hum of waves greeted Lia as she stepped out onto the terrace. The night air was cool against her skin, a welcome relief from the heat of the ballroom and the tension of seeing Ethan again. She gripped the railing, staring out at the moonlit ocean, trying to calm her racing thoughts.
"You always did escape to the quietest spot in the room."
Her grip tightened at the sound of Ethan's voice. She didn't turn around. "And you always found me anyway," she said, her tone sharp.
He stepped closer but kept his distance, leaning on the railing a few feet away. "Force of habit, I guess."
Lia glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. The moonlight softened his features, making him look less guarded, almost vulnerable. She hated how easily the sight of him stirred something deep inside her.
"What do you want, Ethan?" she asked, her voice weary.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Closure, maybe? A chance to clear the air?"
She let out a bitter laugh. "Closure? After five years, you suddenly care about closure?"
"I've always cared, Lia," he said quietly, his tone cutting through her defenses. "But you didn't exactly make it easy to talk to you."
She turned to face him fully, anger flaring in her chest. "I didn't make it easy? You're the one who gave up, Ethan. You walked away."
"I didn't walk away," he shot back, his voice rising. "You left. You were the one who decided we couldn't make it work."
Lia opened her mouth to argue, but the words caught in her throat. The truth of his words hit her harder than she expected. She had left. She'd told herself it was the only option, that they wanted different things, but hearing him say it brought back all the guilt she'd buried.
"I had no choice," she said finally, her voice softer now. "We were going in circles, Ethan. We were tearing each other apart."
He shook his head, his expression pained. "You didn't even give us a chance to fix it. You decided it was over before we could even try."
Tears pricked at her eyes, but she blinked them away. "Do you think it was easy for me? Walking away from you was the hardest thing I've ever done. But what else was I supposed to do? We wanted completely different things. You wanted stability, and I... I wasn't ready for that."
They stood in silence for a moment, the sound of the ocean filling the space between them.
"I didn't want stability," Ethan said finally, his voice low. "I wanted you. And I would've figured out the rest if you'd just stayed."
Lia's breath caught, and for a moment, she couldn't speak. The weight of his words settled over her, reopening old wounds she thought had healed.
"I didn't know how," she whispered, her voice trembling.
Ethan looked at her, his gaze filled with a mix of sadness and longing. "You didn't have to know how, Lia. We could've figured it out together. That's what love is, isn't it?"
The vulnerability in his voice was almost too much to bear. She turned away, gripping the railing again to steady herself.
"Maybe," she said quietly. "But we weren't ready then. And I don't know if we're ready now."
Ethan didn't respond right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm but firm. "I know I can't change the past. But if there's even the smallest chance we can move forward, I'm willing to try."
She didn't look at him, afraid of what she might see in his eyes. Instead, she focused on the horizon, the waves crashing against the shore.
"I don't know, Ethan," she said, her voice barely audible.
But even as she said the words, a tiny part of her wondered if he was right—if there was still something worth fighting for.