truth to be told, he felt like an asshole. while ethan thought that time away from juliet would help him get his head around everything she told him about her past ------- namely the truth ------- he still loved her. she loved him. she poured all of her heart out to him, came clean, and yes, while it left him wondering whether or not she still had secrets in store, hiding them away from him. but it was juliet, his jules, the one that he envisioned himself to settle down with eventually, when she was ready. they even talked about kids, but he just up and screwed up big time with her, simply having to point out that he was called to join doctors without borders in kenya for at least six months, which he thought was a good time spent away from each other to see if their love had been as strong as they both thought.
it left juliet hurting, it left ethan hurting even more so, and for once, for once in his life, he decided to be selfish. for once, he would choose himself and the one he loved over everybody else, so he did what he thought was the best decision in that case: he told the organization that he wouldn't be able to come to kenya with them. they were disappointed, though ethan did point them towards other surgeons that were just as good as he was, and who were probably very eager to fly out there and help. he, however, had amends to make, and apologize.
he allowed himself a few days of not talking to juliet, setting himself that boundary that he didn't want to overstep. it allowed him to process it all more, try and understand juliet's side of the story. he did, he understood why she was hesitant, why it was such a big deal to hide such past from him, and he did react way too harshly to it.
and so, with his mind set, ethan made two stops before he arrived at the nest, one by the florist shop and one by a gift store. he even called thomas specifically to let him in and even help him bring part of what he brought for juliet, without her knowing. the large teddy bear he bought, almost as tall as he was, with a cute stuffed cushion with "I love you" embroidered into it, sat on the floor next to him, the head now reaching around his shoulders, and the large bouquet, so large that it hid his face completely and made out of juliet's favourite flowers, was in his hands. thomas was kind enough to get juliet while ethan waited, feeling cramps in his stomach at the same time. it could really go two ways, either she accepted his apology and they worked it out, or he'd be kicked out of the nest promptly, the flowers and bear probably following.
the all too familiar sound of footsteps was enough for him to know that she was there.
❝ i... came to apologize. ❞ no hi, nor anything else, just straight to the point. he had it all figured out in his head and wanted it out before messing up. ❝ i'm sorry for being as insensitive as i was the other night. i should have been more considerate and be more open minded. i did need a bit of time to think about it and process it, because it's big news. but i shouldn't have reacted the way i did when you came over that night and i shouldn't have said that i need six months away from you to think about it. i don't. i thought about it a lot the past few days and i still feel the same about you, jules. ❞ as much as he could, he lowered the bouquet down, just enough so his eyes peaked from behind it. ❝ i love you, jules. and i'm sorry for being a dick. i canceled doctors without borders. i don't want to go and leave our relationship standing like that. i... i want to work it out. ❞ if it could still be worked out.
