Diamonds are a girl's best friend

She necked another shot at the bar, having come to drink alone after finishing her shift as early as possible. She had said her goodbyes to Rafael at the hospital and all she could think of now were the things she didn’t say.

I’ll miss you.

I love you.

Please don’t go.

But she hadn’t. She had seen the determination in his eyes and she knew that he wanted to leave. There was a time when she believed that she could have made him stay, that she was a reason to stay. But their relationship was over. He had chosen someone else, and if Sora couldn’t make him stay, what hope did she have?

Besides, what point would there be to begging for him not to leave? To ask him to break up with his first love, to come back to her? If he didn’t care enough to reach that conclusion on his own, she wasn’t going to beg for it. Her heart was broken, but at least she had her pride.

“So, are you planning on moping here all night?”

She glanced up to see Ethan taking a seat on the stool beside her, waving for a drink of his own.

“I’m not moping,” she said.

“I’ve known you long enough, Chase, I know when you’re upset,” he pointed out, “So talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“So the fact that Rafael is leaving has nothing to do with your mood, or the fact that you’re drinking alone and not scouring the hospital for good cases like a usual Friday night?”

She shook her head to herself as she took another shot, “Now why should I be upset? Rafael’s moving on with his life. He’s dropping everything he’s ever known and going to sofa surf with family until he finds himself, or until his girlfriend goes out there to join them and they create a perfect fucking life together, and he never comes back, and I’m stuck here wondering about what could have been.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, which melted into an expression of gentler concern as he realised that her ranting had caused tears to sprout behind her green eyes.

“Does that sound like something I should be upset about?” she challenged, but the fight was gone out of her, voice softened by her tears.

“You know I’m not good at the emotional talk, but it’s clear that whatever happened between you and Rafael is unresolved in your eyes. He left you for someone else whilst you thought you were happy, so you were left with a lot of affection and nowhere to direct it. It’s reasonable to be upset, you haven’t had a chance to work through those emotions,” he said, his voice calm, tone methodical like he was working through a diagnosis, “It’ll be hard, but now that he’s gone you can start letting some of this go, and-”

She pushed her next shot away from her, face clouded in thought, “You’re right.”

He blinked a few times, “I think that’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me, Chase.”

“I mean it,” she said, turning to face him properly, “This whole thing is unresolved. He doesn’t know how I feel about him, not truly. He deserves to know, and if he wants to go to Brazil, then fine, but I can’t let him go without him having all the facts.”

“That is… not what I saying,” he frowned at her as she threw some money on the bar for her drink then slid off of her stool, heading for the door, “Where the hell are you going?”

“Ethan, I’m trying to do a big romance movie airport chase thing here, now are you driving me or are you seriously going to make me take a cab?” she raised her eyebrows at him from the doorway, nodding towards the street.

He watched her for a moment before he let out a groan of, “Fine,” and followed her swiftly out of the bar.

The drive to the airport was tense. Ethan tried to focus on driving, but all Cora was doing was rabbiting incessantly about what she was going to say, noting how fast Ethan was going, calling her friends to fill them in, pointing out how much faster Ethan could be driving, her plan to get through the airport, telling Ethan was driving like a student during their driving exam, before he had enough and put his foot down.

Once they arrived, they raced through the airport together, Bryce texting Cora the details he knew about Rafael’s flight. They checked the board for departing flights and Ethan bought Cora a ticket for a flight at the same gate so that she could get to him. She left him in the lobby with a thank you and a kiss to the cheek.

She made it through security as quickly as possible then took off running, hearing the calls for final boarding for Rafael’s flight. Her heart pounded in her chest as she kept going, weaving in and out of crowds, sprinting along the long hallways towards the gate.

Through the glass windows she could see the plane boarding across the tarmac, and she knew she was running out of time.

There was a call of final warning for boarding the flight, but she ignored it and kept running. She had to get to Rafael. If she could get to him, she could tell him everything, that she loved him, that she had loved him for so long and she was sorry that she never said it before.

She skidded around the corner, throwing open the door to the departure lounge, lungs burning for air, but she found it empty.

“No,” she whispered to herself, “I’m too late.”

Out of the window, the plane was already taxying down the runway, taking Rafael with it, her plans and dreams crushed.

Tears slid down her cheeks as she turned away, ready to head back out, wondering how she could have been so foolish, but she was met face to face with a familiar figure.

“Raf?” she asked softly.

He held his phone in his hand, looking between it and her, “I just got called by possibly every single one of our friends, and Ethan Ramsey, telling me not to get on the flight.”

She choked back a soft sob, thinking of her wonderful friends before she took a breath and looked at him.

“I’m sorry that I left this until now to do,” she said, “I should have said this earlier at the hospital, but I couldn’t. And now… Now I can’t stand the thought of you leaving without first hearing what I have to say.”

“Cora, what’s going on?”

“Let me start this by saying that I know you love Sora. She’s your first love, and she came back into your life, and that was amazing for you. And I know that she makes you happy. But I made you happy once. I was the one that you met after your shifts and went to your grandma’s for dinner, and danced in the street with you, and held your life in my hands on the surgical table, and sat by your bedside for days because I couldn’t stand to leave you. You found someone else, but I didn’t,” she looked up at him, into those beautiful, warm, kind eyes that she adored, “I fell hopelessly in love with you Raf, and even now, after everything, I still love you. I’m sorry I never told you before. And maybe this doesn’t change anything for you, but I couldn’t let you go without telling you how I feel, without letting you know that if there’s the slightest chance that you feel the same way, that I want you to stay.”

He was silent for a long moment, watching her, “Cora… You… You came all the way to the airport, our friends stopped me getting on my flight, and you want me to… what? Break up with my girlfriend? Admit I was wrong and that I never should have left you? Stay in a city where I’ve been stuck in a rut for months, not go on a trip I’d planned so that I could think about my life?”

She looked at him in shock, “Raf, I…”

“What did you think I was going to say?” he asked, a desperation to his voice, “I’m sorry that I broke your heart, I truly am, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. And you did make me happy, you still do. I’ll always care about you Cora, but-”

“But you don’t love me,” she summarised, “You never did.” He opened his mouth to say something else but she shook her head, “Forget it. I was an idiot. I’m sorry I ruined your plans. If you have any trouble getting another flight, I’ll pay for the ticket. Just… drop me a text when you get there so I know you’re safe.”

She turned without another word, knowing she couldn’t say goodbye to him again and left.

***

“You can stay at mine tonight, if you want.”

Ethan broke the near deafening silence in the car on the drive back towards the city. Cora had been staring out the window the whole way, watching the rain pattering on the glass as tears streaked down her cheeks.

She glanced at him, frowning, but said nothing.

“I figured your roommates would have a million questions that you don’t want to answer right now. You’re welcome to stay with me if you just want to get some rest and deal with everything else tomorrow,” he said.

She sniffed softly, “Thank you, Ethan.”

“You do enough for me, Chase. I can do this for you,” he said, giving her arm a squeeze before putting his hand back on the wheel.

Back at his apartment, he her a chamomile tea and let her sit in peace for a while whilst he sorted sleeping arrangements and some spare pyjamas to wear. He came back out to the living room to find her cuddling with Jenner.

“The bed’s ready, whenever you are,” he told her.

She glanced up at him, a frown crossing her face, “I can’t take your bed. The couch is just fine, I’m don’t want to be an imposition.”

“Take the bed,” he insisted, “You’ve been through enough today and I’ve slept on this couch more times than I can admit. Get some proper sleep, Cora. You need it.”

She nodded and thanked him, heading into his room with Jenner following close behind, no doubt knowing that he would be allowed to sleep on the bed with Cora, Ethan rolling his eyes a little. That dog knew a pushover and someone in need of a friend when he saw one.

Cora changed into one of Ethan’s t shirts and sweatpants, feeling more at ease just from the comfort of the clothes. The pain and embarrassment of what happened at the airport hadn’t gone away, but she knew was somewhere safe to let herself rest before she dealt with the fallout of her emotions in the morning.

Jenner leapt up onto the bed and cuddled into her side, and she allowed herself a smile.

“Now I know Ethan doesn’t let you do this,” she said softly, running her hand over his fur, “But we both know he’s a pushover when it comes to me, so I think we can get away with it.”

Jenner let out a soft whuff and leaned into her touch. She snuggled in closer and closed her eyes, praying that sleep would come easily despite the turmoil in her heart and mind, the sound of the rain bouncing off the windows lulling her to rest.

***

The sound of the front door buzzer going off was what woke Ethan three hours later. He shot awake in the dark, confused for a moment as to why he was on the couch and what was going on. But as his thoughts clarified he remembered what had happened that evening. And yet, someone was buzzing for entry to the building.

He turned the lamp on and headed towards the speaker, glancing back towards the bedroom to make sure Cora hadn’t been woken up.

He pressed on the button, “Who in the sweet hell is buzzing at 3 in the morning?”

The reply “Dr Ramsey, it’s Rafael… Is Cora there?”

“Rafael?” he frowned, “What are you-?”

“Please, Ethan, I’ve been all over town looking for her, tell me she’s with you,” Raf’s begging tone cut him off.

He let out a sigh, “She’s here. She’s safe.”

“Thank god,” came the relieved sigh in reply, “I need to talk to her.”

“From the look on her face, you said everything you needed to at the airport,” Ethan pointed out gruffly.

“Please just let me speak to her.”

“I don’t think that’s-” he started to turn him away, but he felt the presence of someone behind him.

“Is that Raf?” Cora asked quietly, tucking her sleep mussed blonde hair out of her face, “He… he’s here?”

“He’s downstairs,” Ethan told her, “He wants to talk to you.”

She stepped up and replaced him at the speaker, “Raf… it’s me.”

“Cora,” he said her name with a reverence and relief she had never heard from him before, “I’m sorry for how I acted back at the airport. You caught me off guard, and you were saying all of those amazing things, and I couldn’t stand how right you were. I broke up with you because I thought what I wanted was something I could have with Sora. But it wasn’t. I was wrong, about all of it. I was going to Brazil to find myself, to find my purpose, but you are what I was looking for, I was too blind to see it.”

She brought her hand away from the buzzer, not knowing what to say, but as her mind was running through a million things, her legs carried her without thought, past Ethan, out the door, down the flights of stairs and to the front door.

Through the glass panes, she could see Rafael, soaked from the rain, desperately looking from the buzzer up to the windows of the apartment building. She stepped closer, heart pounding in her chest as she opened the front door, looking at him.

He looked down at her as she stepped out into the rain to join him.

“I meant every word I just said,” he reached to cup her cheek, “I was so confused about what I wanted and what made me happy. But it was you, Cora, it was always you.”

He leaned in closer to her but she put a hand on his chest, “What about Sora…?”

“She’s known for a while that I wasn’t over my feelings for you. She ended it before I could even tell her what happened at the airport,” he said, “I did love her once. When we were younger and I didn’t understand what true love was really like. But what I feel for you… there’s no feeling like it. I am hopelessly in love with you, Cora Chase. And if I’m not too late, if I haven’t been too much of an ass, I hope-”

His next words were cut off by her leaning up to kiss him. He kissed her back hungrily, pressing her against the wall, his strong body shielding her from the downpour that had soaked them both. Tears of gratitude and happiness slipped down her cheeks.

“Will you two get your asses in out of the rain? You’ve still got work tomorrow, Chase,” Ethan’s voice came from the buzzer, and they both just laughed, stealing another kiss before they headed back to the reality that awaited them inside.

Rafael was staying. That was fact one.

It was a simple thing when put like that; Rafael wasn’t leaving, he was staying, and they had a chance to work things out.

Fact number two was a little harder to comprehend. They would need to work at whatever came next. They had been together before, and he had just ended another relationship.

It wouldn’t be easy, but they would be okay. Of that she was almost certain.