I Picked Up My Best Friend After Her Breakup… Then She Asked, “Why Didn’t I Choose You?”
Chapter 7
“You were going to leave?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I wasn’t going to leave you.”
“You were going to move.”
“For work.”
“For two years.”
“I haven’t decided.”
Ethan sat down.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“That you’d ask me not to go.”
He looked at her.
“I wouldn’t.”
She blinked.
“You wouldn’t?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what it’s like to sacrifice your future for someone.”
Sarah remembered.
Daniel.
The promotion she had once turned down.
Ethan continued.
“I don’t want you to make that mistake again.”
“But what about us?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
She sat beside him.
“You make everything sound easy.”
“It isn’t.”
“Then why aren’t you angry?”
“I am.”
She looked at him.
“But I’m more afraid that you’ll choose me because you’re afraid of losing me.”
Sarah was silent.
The irony wasn’t lost on either of them.
Years ago, Ethan had loved her from a distance because he was afraid of losing her.
Now Sarah was considering giving up her dream because she was afraid of losing him.
Neither wanted to repeat the same mistake.
Sarah accepted the promotion.
For the first three months, they struggled.
Long-distance relationships were harder than either expected.
There were missed calls.
Arguments.
Lonely nights.
But there were also surprises.
Ethan flew to Chicago one weekend.
Sarah flew home the next.
They learned to communicate.
They learned that love wasn’t about keeping someone close.
It was about wanting them to become everything they could be.
Six months later, Ethan proposed.
Not because they were afraid of losing each other.
Because they had finally learned how to stand beside each other without holding each other back.
Sarah said yes.
Their wedding was scheduled for the following summer.
Then tragedy struck.
Ethan’s father suffered a serious heart attack.
Everything changed.
Ethan returned home.
Sarah immediately came with him.
For weeks, the wedding disappeared from their minds.
Family became the priority.
One night, Ethan sat beside his father’s hospital bed.
Sarah stood behind him.
His father opened his eyes.
He looked at Sarah.
Then at Ethan.
“Don’t let fear make decisions for you.”
Ethan smiled sadly.
“You’re giving me advice?”
His father laughed weakly.
“Always.”
Sarah squeezed Ethan’s shoulder.
His father looked at her.
“Take care of my boy.”
Sarah smiled.
“He takes care of me too.”
His father closed his eyes.
“Good.”
