I Picked Up My Best Friend After Her Breakup… Then She Asked, “Why Didn’t I Choose You?”
Chapter 4
The following weeks were complicated.
Sarah didn’t immediately become Ethan’s girlfriend.
Neither of them wanted to rush.
She was still recovering from her breakup.
Ethan knew that.
So they returned to something familiar.
Coffee.
Long drives.
Late-night conversations.
Movie nights.
Except everything felt different.
A hand resting on a shoulder suddenly meant something.
A hug lasted longer.
A glance could make both of them look away.
Sarah began noticing things she’d never noticed before.
The way Ethan remembered exactly how she took her coffee.
The way he always walked on the side closest to traffic.
The way he knew when she was upset before she said anything.
The way he never tried to fix her when she only wanted someone to listen.
One Saturday, they went grocery shopping.
Sarah reached for a box of cereal.
Ethan grabbed the same box.
Their hands touched.
They both laughed.
“This is weird,” Sarah said.
“What?”
“We’ve done this a thousand times.”
“Apparently we’re terrible at being romantic.”
She smiled.
“Maybe.”
They continued shopping.
Then Sarah saw Daniel at the end of the aisle.
Her body stiffened.
Ethan noticed.
“Want to leave?”
“No.”
Daniel approached.
“Sarah.”
She nodded.
“Daniel.”
He looked at Ethan.
Then back at Sarah.
“I heard.”
Sarah frowned.
“Heard what?”
“About you two.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“We’re not—”
Sarah interrupted.
“We’re figuring things out.”
Daniel looked surprised.
Then he laughed.
“Already?”
Sarah’s expression hardened.
“You don’t get to judge me.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
Daniel sighed.
“I’m not angry because you’re with Ethan.”
“Then why?”
“Because I finally understand.”
Sarah looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“I spent five years trying to become the man you wanted.”
He shook his head.
“But you were always comparing me to someone who didn’t even know you were comparing him.”
Ethan looked away.
Daniel smiled sadly.
“You didn’t choose Ethan because you were afraid.”
Sarah said nothing.
Daniel walked away.
The encounter left her shaken.
That evening, she sat on Ethan’s balcony.
“I feel guilty.”
“You don’t need to.”
“I wasted years.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t think so?”
“I think you lived them.”
He sat beside her.
“You can’t rewrite them.”
Sarah rested her head on his shoulder.
“I wish I’d known.”
“Known what?”
“That I already had everything I was looking for.”
Ethan looked at her.
Sarah looked back.
For a second, they were inches apart.
Then her phone rang.
The moment disappeared.
It was her mother.
Sarah answered.
And while she was talking, Ethan realized something.
He was terrified.
Not of losing Sarah anymore.
But of finally getting her.
