Separate ways lead to the same place

Chapter 21

~2 weeks later, Ethan's point of view~

I put the last box in the trunk. We're going to our new appartment in London to renovate it together. We both have found new jobs, so we can start building a new life. I'm excited for it, although it's hard to say goodbye to my childhood home. I hope another family can build their life here. We don't know yet, though, because the house isn't sold yet. In the end, my home is my girlfriend, my friends and my parents. All of those people are in my heart. My home is the feeling of safety and love they give me. They make me feel like I just belong with them. I hope I will always have them, because I don't know what I would do without them. I look back at the house and smile before stepping into the car. The neighbour will take care of the house for us, so we can start our lives in London. Now we don't have to drive back and forth. I'm so excited for our new appartment and jobs. It will be awesome!

~Zoe's point of view~

I turn the key to lock the front door and walk towards the car. We stayed here for quite some time and I can't really comprehend everything that has happened here. I have lived through some very happy moments, for example when Ethan and I got together and we came back here and we fell asleep curled up into each other. I also experienced very sad moments, like the fights with my parents and losing the closest thing I had to a mother. I have been coming here since I was a kid and have so many memories here. Knowing how hard it is for me to leave here for the last time, I can't imagine how Ethan is feeling. He has spend his whole childhood here. The few memories he has of his father were mostly here. He lost both of his parents while he was living here. This place has brought him all the happiest and the saddest moments in his life. Leaving this place behind must be so hard for him. I want to try to make our new place a home too. I also hope Ethan gets a break from the emotional events that shake his life until it's a mess. He has been through a lot and I hope he can find some rest in the future. The next weeks he won't, though. I'm not renovating that appartment by myself! It's not like it's too much work, but it's rather old so we want to replace some stuff to avoid having problems in the future. Then I didn't even count the time we'll need to paint, do the floors and putting the furniture in. It's going to be hard, but fun. Besides, it will feel so rewarding when it's done! When I step into the car, the first thing I notice is the silence. It is a heavy one, but not uncomfortable. I decide to put some music on to get a more relaxed atmosphere in the vehicle. Ethan starts the car and backs out of the driveway. I think he just did it like this on purpose, because he does it by turning his upper body towards me and putting his hand on the back of my seat, looking out of the back window. I always laughed when I saw girls say that it looks so flawless, I thought it was so silly. Now I see him do that, I feel butterflies in my stomach. Apparently, I'm staring at him like  just saw a ghost, a pretty good-looking ghost, because Ethan's voice cuts my thoughts into pieces and brings me back to reality. "What is it?" he asks. "That was hot," that's the only sentence my brain is able to form. Ethan chuckles. "What is?" he asks. "Nothing," I try to get out of this situation, but I should know better than that. We can be very stubborn. "No, what was hot? You're staring at me like I'm Harry Styles," he says, making me laugh at the comparison. "Well, you don't think I will ignore a way to have as much attention from you as Harry Styles, do you?" he asks jokingly, making me laugh even more. When I can breath again, I explain:"I always laughed at girls explaining it's extremely hot if a guy does that thing when they have to back out of a parking spot, for example. You did that exact thing. You know? The thing where you turn around and put you hand on the back of my seat to look out of the back window. Well, let's say that I believe those girls now and I won't laugh at them for thinking it's an extremely flawless move. My belly litterally exploded with butterflies." Ethan frowns, not believing such a simple thing can have such an effect on someone. "Is that litterally all I have to do to get as much attention as Harry Styles?" he asks. "Harry Styles isn't my boyfriend, though," I reason. "You wish. Litterally, that is," Ethan answers, making me chuckle. "No, I don't," I fight back. "Don't worry, I get it. I'm already glad you chose me," he says. "I don't have to choose if there's only one person I want," I answer, watching his lips curl up to a smile. "Harry Styles?" he teases. "No, you silly," I answer. We both laugh at our silly conversation. The next 2 hours, we spend singing along to all of our favorite songs. After those 2 hours, we decide to stop at a gas station for something to drink and to eat. We park the car next to a bench and sit down on it. "What time will we be in London?" I ask while biting into my sandwich. "Around 4," Ethan answers. I nod. I stand up to stretch a little. "What are you doing?" Ethan asks. "I'm stretching," I answer,"My shoulders and back are stiff." "Come here," he simply says, motioning me to sit on his lap. I sit down and close my eyes when his hands reach up to my shoulder blades and massage them. He is really good at massaging, his mom told me. I just had yet to experience it myself. Well, his mom was right. After a few minutes, my muscles feel loose and flexible. "Better?" Ethan asks, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. I nod:"Yes, much better. Thank you, baby." I want to stand up, but Ethan's hands are quick to wrap around my waist to keep me down. "Stay," he says in a whiney tone, making me chuckle. "Why?" I ask, looking over my shoulder. "I want to cuddle, duh," Ethan says, making me laugh. "Let's make a deal. We go home now, eat some dinner and cuddle all night. How does that sound?" I propose. His hands leave my waist as he urges me to stand up and walk to the car. We get in while I'm still laughing at his sudden urge to get home. He starts the car and backs out the parking spot, doing the same thing as he did when we left. He grins at me when he realises he's doing it again. I playfully roll my eyes and smile, feeling butterfleis erupt in my stomach. "I liked hearing you call our appartment home, by the way," he breaks the silence once we're driving again. I frown as I try to remember what he's talking about, then I realise. I smile as I say:"It happened subconciously. I didn't even realise it." Ethan's smile grows. The music is playing quietly as I think about nothing and everything. I remember the song I wrote when I stood up for myself against my mom and I realise Ethan doesn't even know about it. "Baby?" I grab his attention. His eyes turn towards me for a split second, signaling me to go on and that he's listening. "You remember when I stood up against my mom?" I proceed. He nods:"I do. What about it?" "Well, when I was alone in the bedroom, I remembered when I went through that heartbreak with Bartholomew and we wrote that song about it? Well, I remembered it felt so good to get it off my chest, so I wrote a song about all the frustration towards my mom. I just realised you haven't heard it yet," I explain. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let me hear it," Ethan says, excitement evident in his voice. I search for it on my phone and connect it to the car. The intro starts playing and I start picking on my nails. Ethan puts one hand on my hands to make me stop it while he listens to the song attentively. I don't know why I feel so nervous about what he thinks about it. I just care about his opinion. When the song comes to an end, Ethan stays silent for a while, making me feel anxious about what he's going to say. He doesn't take his eyes off the road. Just when I want to ask him what he thinks about it, he breaks the silence:''I love it. You are so talented, honey, you don't even realise. I can not comprehend how you can be so talented in a field you're not that passionate about. I don't know, you're just so talented! It's an amazing song, baby, I mean it.'' I can see him smiling so wide, it makes me so happy. ''Thank you, baby. It didn't even take that long, it just poured out. I don't know how else to explain,'' I say. ''I know exactly what you mean. I think you did great,'' he compliments.

Here is the song. I'm really sorry, it's not too good, but I tried my best to make it sound good and make it fit into the story and explain Zoe's feelings in the best way possible. Credits to the person who made the music for everybody to use.

The next few hours of the drive go by rather quickly. We make some small talk here and there, but nothing special. The talking is replaced with singing along to music every once in a while. We reach London 30 minutes earlier than expected and get some food before parking the car in front of our new building. It's not too far from everything. It's even closer to our friends than our previous place in London. We climb the stairs until we reach the third floor. Our appartment is right in front of the stairs, so we don't have to search. I unlock the door and open it, revealing our own appartment. We decide we'll unpack tommorow and sit down on the ground to eat, since we don't have a dinner table with chairs, or a couch. We did get a new bed already. It has been a long day, so we go to bed early, falling asleep curled up into each other.

~The next day, Ethan's point of view~

I wake up to the smell of pancakes. I quickly get dressed and make my way to the source of the smell. Zoe is sitting on the ground in the living room with 2 plates. ''Good morning,'' I say, sitting down across from her and taking a pancake. ''Good morning,'' she answers, smiling at me. We eat the pancakes without talking much. ''I was thinking,'' Zoe says,''What if we wait with unpacking until we have the appartment itself ready?''  I think it through for a second. She is right, though. ''You're right. I think we should try to get the kitchen and dining room ready before we go to work, because we need to be able to sit and stuff. The bathroom is also very important, but I think it's better if we let someone with more knowledge do that. I just think a bathroom has to be of good quality. The kitchen and dining room is something we can do ourselves,'' I explain, looking at her as she thinks about it. ''Yes, that's a good idea. We should get started then, shouldn't we? We have a week until we both start work,'' she says as she stands up, taking the plates with her. I watch as she goes to the trash can to throw the paper plates away. I stand up too and walk up to her with a small smile on my lips. ''You look beautiful today,'' I tell her, leaning in for a kiss. She smiles against my lips, kissing me back. ''Thank you. You look very beautiful too, Baby,'' she answers when she pulls back. I look at my feet and smile at the compliment. I don't think boys get that many compliments, at least I don't. So when I do get one, it means the world to me and I remember it for a long time. Zoe puts her finger under my chin and makes me look at her. ''I mean it. You are absolutely, inevitably beautiful,'' she whispers, making a warm feeling spread through my entire body. ''Thank you, Honey. I love you,'' I say, kissing her forehead twice. ''Now, let's get to work!'' Zoe says enthousiatically. I smile at her happy mood that seems to light up the room. We immediately get dressed and get started.

I fall down on the bed. I am exhausted! Every muscle in my body protests when I try to stand up again. It's 10 pm right now. We spent today working on the dining room and kitchen. I'm actually very excited to renovate the appartment, although it's very exhausting. I'm excited to live in this appartment, knowing we renovated it ourselves. The door opens and Zoe steps in, her shoulders slouched and her eyes half open. She's as tired as me, if not more. If Zoe wants to reach a goal, she doesn't care about the boundaries her body has set for her. It makes me a little worried, but I know that at the end of the day, Zoe never goes way too far. She know when to stop. I trust her. Besides, I don't want to let my fear of her getting hurt get in the way of her. She needs to be free, to be able to reach her goals and dreams. I want that for her. She lies down next to me and smiles at me before kissing my forehead twice and cuddling into me. I kiss her forehead twice as a goodnight and hold her, closing my eyes in contentment.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

xxxDieuwke

Word count: 2460