Later that evening, I hear a knock on my door, causing me to look up just as the door opens and Grace's head pops in, "Hi, dear."

"Hey, Grace," I say, adjusting the small diamond earring to match with my dress.

She walks in and takes a proper look at me before smiling widely, "Oh my. Look how gorgeous you look."

I'm wearing a black tulle dress. The tulle of the dress goes all the way up to cover my chest and wraps around my neck, showing a lot of cleavage, that I'm sure my father wouldn't approve of. I lightly curled my hair but kept the makeup as minimal as possible since the dress is already so extra.

"Thank you so much, Grace."

"Well, certain someone waiting downstairs for you might just drop dead when he looks at you." She says, grinning.

Ethan and I haven't talked about the awkward pause that came in the morning conversation while discussing his future move, but then again, I still haven't talked to him about the Brooke thing. Even though that topic seems tiny right now, considering he flew all the way to New York for me, I still think it'd be a good idea if I told him how I felt about it a few days back.

"He better, considering this dress is very heavy to walk around in." I joke.

Grace chuckles and softly squeezes my shoulder. "I'm sure he'd be appreciative. As far as I can tell, he appreciates you like you deserve to be."

Knowing that her words are true brings a smile to my face. He appreciates me. Not just my looks or the way I dress, but me.

"I can tell he makes you happy. Doesn't he, honey?"

It doesn't even take me a second to reply to her questions. "He makes me the happiest."

"Then, don't let him go." I take a second to think over her words.

Ethan makes me feel the happiest in the world and that's not because he gives me flowers or takes me out, but simply because he exists in the same world as me. Yes, his kisses are a bonus, but his presence alone makes me feel a lot lighter.

"Anyway, your mother is about to come." She informs, bringing me out of my thoughts, "I suggest you accompany Mr. Handsome downstairs as soon as possible."

I instantly know what she means. If my mother met Ethan alone, I do not know what she'll say to him and I'm sure Ethan won't say anything to her, out of respect. But I won't think twice before answering her if she so much as goes left rather than right.

"I'll be there in a second." With a nod, Grace leaves.

I rush around the room to pick up my phone and the clutch before stuffing all my necessities inside it and within a few seconds, I'm walking down the stairs.

Rounding the marble stairs, I come to a sudden halt when I see my mom standing next to Ethan and talking to him.

From this far away, I can't tell what they're talking about, but it couldn't be that bad considering my mom doesn't have a snarl on her face, even though both of them are standing with rigid and tense bodies.

I start stepping down further and decide to end whatever conversation is happening when I speak up, "Mom."

Her head turns towards me with a small but relaxed smile on her face like she had been expecting me to come down any second now.

Ethan, on the other hand, takes his time to sweep his eyes over me. His gaze travels from my toes to my head in a way I can only describe as pure admiration and a bit of disbelief. When our eyes meet, I smile at him and come to a stop at the bottom of the staircase.

"Iris." My mother's voice interrupts my eye communication with Ethan as I turn my head to look at her. "How lovely you look."

In appearance, I'm completely my mother's daughter. Some people even go as far as to say that even my mannerisms are quite similar to my mother's.

"Thank you. So do you." And she truly does. In her white full sleeves V-neck gown, she looks pristine. Like the walls of her house.

Smiling at me, she motions towards Ethan, "I was just meeting your boy to-" she cuts herself before looking at me with amusement in her eyes, causing me to tense up a little. "I mean, you boyfriend."

Maintaining eye contact with her, I walked towards Ethan and wrapped my hands around his arm. "I see," I reply vaguely, knowing she has a lot to say and this is not even the worst of it.

"You didn't inform me he was coming with you." She looks at me with sharp eyes but you couldn't tell she is reprimanding me unless you know her.

Her words cause me to scoff a little as my mouth lifts in a little smirk, "I didn't think it would be important considering you, yourself are never here."

"Iris." Her teeth clench behind the smile on her lips. "I expect to know who'll be staying at my house as a guest, irrespective of my availability."

She makes it sound like she was out of her office for a few days and several clients flew in. I hate how she treats this house as if it's an extension of her business.

"Availability..." I hum as I look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well, he's my guest. So, you don't have to bother yourself with his stay."

She opens her mouth to say something, but I cut her off.

"Also, considering you never came to the airport to pick me up or even wait for me at the house, I'd say your schedule is pretty tight. So, I didn't think you'd mind me taking a guest off of your hands."

Although I'm very glad about her absence throughout the day, she could've at least texted me to ask if I have landed or not, especially when she was so adamant about me coming here.

"Oh, come on, Iris." She chuckles like I'm joking. "You're not a kid, are you? I didn't think you needed to be picked up or dropped off."

I step ahead to say something, but Ethan cups my elbow, pulling me back and instead wraps his arm around my waist. Glancing at me, he turns to my mom with a smile, "I'm extremely sorry for coming here announced, Mrs. Reed."

My mother carries an impressed look on her face as Ethan takes accountability for something that's not even his mistake, but maintains her composure. "There's no need for you to be sorry, Ethan." She smiles at him before looking at me. "This was Iris's responsibility, not yours. But like always, she's bailing out on her responsibilities and someone else has to take the fall for it."

I grind my teeth in annoyance and start to say something in retaliation, but Ethan beats me to it, "Funny you would say that." He looks at me with a proud smile on his face. "I mean, she moved so far away from her house with no assistance from her parents and she is doing incredibly well there, all alone in a new city."

"In fact, when my mother met her, she kept saying how she had to come with me, help me set up, and how troubling it was." He chuckles as if remembering a memory. "I'm sure you must be glad to have such a responsible daughter who took care of herself all on her own."

My mother looks at Ethan with subtly narrowed eyes and a tight smile, "Of course," she says with gritted teeth, "It was really helpful that she could manage on her own. We've always taught her to take care of herself and not be a burden on people surrounding her."

I almost snort in reply. It's funny to see her talk about teaching your kid to be independent when she wasn't even present around to teach me the things only a mother could teach her daughter.

As I hear my mom, I can't help but draw out a difference between my parents. While my mother is trying her best to hide the strain in our relationship by faking it, my dad outright mentioned it because he knows how important honesty is. But even when she's faking it, she can't help her snide remarks.

I take a quick glance at Ethan as warmth spreads through my chest. He's someone who believes in pacifying fights rather than adding fuel. So, instead of outright arguing with my mom, he's standing up for me in his own way.

Looking back at my mom, I speak up with a smirk on my face, "I mean, I didn't have much of a choice anyway, you know."

"Iris!" she exclaims in a hard tone before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "I think we've already wasted a lot of time talking about useless things and we're extremely late. We should get going."

She walks towards the main door as one of the household walks over quickly and hands her the clutch.

"The driver's waiting outside for you." She tells me, over her shoulder. "I'll be arriving with your father in the other car."

I chuckle, shaking my head in disbelief. She refuses to stay in the same house as him, but she'll commute in the same car if that's what it takes for her to keep up appearances.

"Let's go, Ethan. This is going to be a long night."

⤎❁⤏

"I think I'm gonna post this one on Insta," Ethan says, showing me a picture that Grace took of us. After mom left, I realized I left my bracelet in the room. So, we had to go back up and when we were coming down the stairs, Grace snapped a picture of us that she later sent me.

"Yeah, you should," I tell him, smiling at the photo.

"Speaking of Instagram, I actually wanted to tell you something." He says, turning towards me and putting his phone away.

"Yeah?" I turn away from the view of the city and face him as we drive towards the venue of the gala.

"This means nothing, but I don't want to alarm or shock you if you come across a picture of me and Brooke on her Instagram."

Of all the things he could've said, that was the least likely.

Not knowing how to react, I simply raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"The night of Liam's bachelorette, we bumped into Brooke. It was totally accidental. We're from the same hometown, but I didn't know she would be there. We talked for a little while and she wanted to click pictures with everyone for the memory of it all and I thought it'd be rude to say no."

"Hey, you don't have to justify this." I tell him softly when I realize that he's worried I might not trust him.

"No, it's not that. I just don't want you to come across the picture and think that I've been going behind your back or something. I would've brought it up earlier, but so much happened so quickly that I never got the time." He grabs hold of one of my hands and when I look up into his eyes, honesty flashes through them.

I have no doubt in my mind that he's telling the truth. In fact, that doubt was cleared a long time ago. It was a momentary lapse in my judgment caused by my insecurities and nothing else.

"I have actually seen the pictures." I tell him, honestly.

"You have?" he asks, confused.

"Yeah, I saw them the same night and initially, I was really worried when you didn't mention Brooke after coming back but then, I realized it was nothing but my insecurities, and my head kinda got messed up after reading all the comments." I shake my head as I remember all the comments basically shipping Brooke and Ethan together and throwing shade at me.

"Hey, those people don't matter." He says in an effort to reassure me and squeezes my hand.

Smiling gratefully, I nod. "I know, I realized that, and that's why I said nothing. I mean, I wanted to bring it up, because, you know, communication..." I smirked at him, in a teasing way. "But like in a healthy discussion sort of way, not like an argument or something."

"I'm really glad that you wanted to discuss it, and we actually did."

"I know, me too."

Maybe we do have a shot, after all.

⤎❁⤏

Hey guys! How're you doing?

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The next chapter is going to be... interesting.

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QOTD: A movie that releases in 2023 that you're excited about.

Stay safe, Stay grateful!