I didn't think it would. [ethan swallows thickly but there is an intensely fond expression on his face, because he does-- he does still know her, parts of her, well enough to know. he hates all of these things too. he hates how long it has been. he hates all she has been through that he doesn't know about. he hates how much distance there has been between them even now that they are in the same place again, because of differences, because of his own changes.
he swallows as he feels her hand reach out to hold his again, feeling how their fingers interlock together. ethan tightens his hold on her hand as soon as their fingers lock together, and he breathes in sharp, looking over at her slowly, meeting her gaze as something aches through his chest tightly, painfully. it is impossible to describe how much those words mean to him to hear her say those words despite everything-- everything.
it is where he wants to be in whatever capacity he can. he's always been extroverted, but there are very few people in his life that he has been very, very close to like he has been with her. they're family. she is family, someone he loves that he was certain he'd lost forever but have been given back to him time and time again.]
I'm really glad I am, and I will be, Elena. I'll be there with you. [there's a pause before his hand unlatches from her own but it is only so he can wrap his arm around her back, pulling her in against him into a tight hug.] I'm sorry, Elena.
[for everything, for how everything turned out, for what the universes did to them, how it tore them apart and gave them no choices, for everything-- everything she may have been through over all this time
through all this destruction and the endless way the universes can be.]
[action]
he swallows as he feels her hand reach out to hold his again, feeling how their fingers interlock together. ethan tightens his hold on her hand as soon as their fingers lock together, and he breathes in sharp, looking over at her slowly, meeting her gaze as something aches through his chest tightly, painfully. it is impossible to describe how much those words mean to him to hear her say those words despite everything-- everything.
it is where he wants to be in whatever capacity he can. he's always been extroverted, but there are very few people in his life that he has been very, very close to like he has been with her. they're family. she is family, someone he loves that he was certain he'd lost forever but have been given back to him time and time again.]
I'm really glad I am, and I will be, Elena. I'll be there with you. [there's a pause before his hand unlatches from her own but it is only so he can wrap his arm around her back, pulling her in against him into a tight hug.] I'm sorry, Elena.
[for everything, for how everything turned out, for what the universes did to them, how it tore them apart and gave them no choices, for everything-- everything she may have been through over all this time
through all this destruction and the endless way the universes can be.]