Shut Up and Kiss Me || Ethan Dolan

Epilogue: With Time

"I'm gonna piss my pants, dude."

"Oh my god, E, calm down!" Grayson laughs, patting his brother on the back. "I don't think I've ever seen you this stressed. Not even finals of senior year back in college."

Ethan paces in front of the car, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair. Due to his intoxication, he stumbles over his own feet, blinking slowly at his brother when he's stopped. He might be a little panicky.

In his defense, he's getting married in about two weeks.

Just 15 more days and he'll be a married man. He knew before this that he'd be getting married, sure, but it didn't really hit him until right now. The thought is terrifying.

"Since when are you a nervous drunk?" Grayson laughs, holding his brother by the shoulders. "Blake loves you, dude. And you love her. She wouldn't have said yes if she didn't wanna marry you, so what're you freaking out over?"

"She's gonna change her mind. She's gonna realize she's way too good for me and leave me three months into being married? Have you seen her? Do you know how hot and cool and smart she is? Gray, we're still so young, what if we're rushing this--?"

"You're 26. And you're in love. Plus, you've been engaged for like, two years already."

"But, Gray... I sprung the proposal on her. You know we had that rough patch, and like, what if we're just not ready? I can't lose her again," Ethan whines, collapsing against the hood of the car. He had nerves before, but being drunk amplified them.

Him and Blake were practically inseparable for the first year or so of their relationship. After they figured out all of their initial problems, things were really good. They had their arguments, but nothing serious. They were happy, and in love, and things were practically perfect.

Then they broke up.

Ethan can't even remember why, exactly. They were stressed about other things--moving, work, life in general catching up to them since they'd graduated from university. Being so stressed, they just kept fighting again, and then they both snapped. They couldn't take it... so they decided to separate.

It was shitty for both of them. They were so in love, and then suddenly they weren't together anymore. The feelings don't go away when that happens. Blake moved out, and they didn't see each other for ten months. There was no bad blood, it was just too hard. Their mutual friends learned to deal with it instead of forcing them to see each other.

Who broke up with who? Well, really, it was more mutual. They were screaming at each other in the kitchen one day, and Blake shouted something along the lines of, "I can't fucking handle this anymore."

It stopped the argument cold, Ethan gave her a slow swallow in response and choked out the harsh words, "Then maybe we should take a break." Of course, it wasn't really just a break. It was a clean split, one with no intention of reconciliation once Blake moved out mere days later.

Ten months apart. At first, the pain was too hard for either of them to stomach, but it eventually dulled. They both tried dating... not that it went well.

Blake was the first girl Ethan truly loved, and she was the reason his new relationship didn't work out. The girl he was been seeing for about four months broke up with him because it was obvious he wasn't over Blake. Ethan couldn't blame her, really, because he wasn't. Things got easier, being apart got easier, but the feelings never faded. He saw a couple of other girls for a few short weeks, but nothing stuck. They weren't Blake, and she was all he wanted. Ethan didn't know if he would ever be able to move on, but he'd never experienced this before so he assumed it was just going to take time.