“If it helps, so did I.” I rested my free hand on his arm. The piece of me that wasn’t feeling awful for hurting him was comforted when he didn’t pull away. “Really, I’m sorry. I should have chosen you right then and had some faith that it would work out. If you’ll let me, I’m choosing you now.”
Ethan laughed, then glanced down. He was still holding my other hand. He’d had every chance to let go, and he hadn’t. It wasn’t forgiveness yet, but relief began to course through my system anyway. I missed holding his hand.
“For someone who doesn’t do social media, you killed your first serious attempt.” This time, his grin was genuine as he leaned toward me.
“Someone wise said I have to put myself out there.” Threading my fingers through his, I stepped a few inches closer to him. I was near enough that I could see the flecks of gold in his eyes.
“If I forgive you, can you promise to not freak out about what the internet says about us?” Ethan asked, his gaze tracing my face with an intensity that surprised me.
“Yes.” I nodded and stepped another inch closer to him sothere was only a sliver of space between our bodies. “I promise I will not have that level of freak-out ever again.”
“Then I forgive you.” Ethan’s lips tugged into the slow, sweet smile I’d gotten used to. Dropping his voice so only the two of us could hear it, he said, “And it’s good that you won’t freak out because I am going to kiss you now, and I’m pretty sure we have an audience for it.”
“Audience or not, I choose you.”
“That’s all I wanted.” Ethan let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around me. Pulling me toward him, he closed the last bit of distance between us. The sounds of the world and our past mistakes melted away as our lips met.
His kiss tasted like a smile and felt like neon lights. It was a kiss made up of sunsets, old-school music, and embarrassing cars. It was sealed with bags of chips and complex coffee orders. It held promises of movie nights and days by the pool. More than shared secrets and inside jokes, this kiss was real. It held a future with a thousand kisses like it. The kind of kiss that meant wherever the future took us, we’d choose to have that adventure together.
10 Months Later: It’s In the Cards
EPILOGUE
“Do we need that?” Ethanpointed to my hard-shelled portable lighting-rig case, then turned back to the trunk of hiscar.
“Of course we do. How am I supposed to film without my lighting rig?”
“You could rent one, like everybody else in Los Angeles.” Ethan chuckled, running a hand over his freshly cut hair. “Or borrow Nittha’s lights. I’m sure Cricket has some.”
“Maybe we don’t bring all your winter coats?” I wrinkled my nose at him. “You will need exactly none of those at any time in the next six months.”
“Or I could ship the lights to you if you really need them,” BamBam said, waltzing out of the front door, holding a plate of brownies. Buzzy followed behind her at a careful distance.
“That’s a perfect solution.” Ethan grinned and walked over to BamBam. Taking the brownies from her, he said, “Thank you,Ms. Mini. These brownies are one of the things I’m gonna miss most about the Webb house.”
“Well, baby, I’ll text you the recipe.” BamBam winked.
“I’ll text you mine as well. And the recipe for that pot roast you love so much,” Buzzy added, edging past BamBam with her cane dangerously close to my grandma’s shins. Both of them wore expressions that implied they were on their best behavior for our sakes…and they hated it. A lot.
“I’m sure we’ll make good on any and all recipes the two of you send,” Ethan said diplomatically, before heading out to the car to set the brownies with my jalapeño chips.
Ethan and I had taken third in the contest, which meant we got $35,000 to split on behalf of the city of Las Vegas and lifetime bragging rights as the original TrendCon love story. For me, that meant some new gear, a week spent at SISU’scinemasummer program, and enough money to make a small dent in my first-semester tuition at USC, which was good, because that private-school bill almost sent my parents into cardiac arrest.
For Ethan, the prize meant fixing up the old convertible SUV we were about to drive away in, stepping back from content creation, and ensuring a cushion to get himself settled at LA City College while he figured out what was next for him. Had I encouraged him to follow me to LA? Yes. Did I have any regrets? Absolutely not.
And of course, we’d both set aside money for the cross-country adventure we were about to take.
“You have to promise to post videos and pictures.” Mom held up a hand as soon as I opened my mouth to protest. “Idon’t care what you wear in them. I only want to follow along and make sure you’re safe.”
“She can do that with phone calls and texts, June.” Dad smiled and spread his arms wide to give me a hug. Pulling me close to him, he added, “But I’d be okay if you posted, too. And you know your BamBam would love it. She never misses a chance to brag about you.”
After the TrendCon contest, I’d decided to set up my own accounts to feature my work. Mostly, they featured sketches or shorts I’d convinced Nittha and Gabby—whose team had won the TrendCon contest—to star in, plus a few of my favorite videos with BamBam, including a sponsored video from a new Black-owned makeup brand wanting to break into the seasoned-women’s market.
“I’m contractually obligated to do both, I think.” I laughed as Dad released me directly into Mom’s embrace. “You two are my parents, so of course I’m calling you. And the parks department is paying me…kind of.”
Between those videos I’d started sharing and the TrendCon win, I’d been able to convince a few state parks and local governments to partner with me and Ethan on our drive out. It wasn’t exactly a big movie deal, but a few free camping sites and diner meals wasn’t a bad place to start.
“Alright. I think that’s everything,” Ethan said, slamming the heavy SUV trunk door. Just behind my parents, Ethan’s mom, dad, and four sisters were here to see him off, all of them clutchingtissues and pressing their mouths into the same flat line like that would stop any of them from being sentimental. It worked for exactly three seconds, until Izzie started crying, atwhichpoint the entire family dissolved into a messy pile of hugs and sniffles, Ethan included.
