The dimly lit restaurant with beautiful crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and soft instrumental music playing made me feel like I stepped into another world. The sounds of forks and knives clinking to the expensive looking china perfectly placed on the tables made me wonder how the hell Lucas and Kinsley could afford this place for their rehearsal dinner, but when I glance at Kinsley's parents I remember that she comes from a rich family.

Tapping on a champagne glass gets everyone's attention as Kinsley's dad stands to begin his speech. Ethan sits back after dabbing his chin with the white cloth napkin and grabs my hand, kissing my knuckles in the process.

"Hello everyone and thank you all for coming out tonight and being apart of my not-so-little girl's special day. I've had the pleasure of meeting most of you. For those that I haven't had the chance to speak with yet, I am Kinsley's father, Charles. I am so proud of the woman you have became, Kinsley. I remember when you were a freshman in college and you came home on Christmas break telling me that all men were idiots and that you'll never marry one, I considered spending the money your mother and I had saved for you on a new collector car. But here we are. It will be strange to see you walk down that aisle tomorrow, but I couldn't be happier to welcome Lucas into our family as my new son-in-law. Lucas, you have been such a wonderful and supportive man to my baby girl. For that, the Mrs. and I are very grateful to you. Now, you better keep that up or I'll have to pull out that gun I warned you about when you had asked for her hand in marriage." The long table of friends and family stifle laughter at Lucas's expense. "But seriously, I'm one proud father tonight and I know she's leaving our home to be in good hands. I love you both very much."

Kinsley's dad takes a seat and we all clap for him in response. Ethan leans over to me and places a small kiss onto my cheekbone, making me blush from the tingle it sent down my spine. As I look up, I see Emma smiling at me and swooning over our little relationship while Madison has her eyebrow cocked at me knowing the Taehyung/Ethan dilemma I have going on. Bugging my eyes out at her, I silently tell her to drop it. This isn't the time nor the place for any of that and if my still current boyfriend wants to show me any kind of affection, I shouldn't stop him.

"Hey, I'm going to go to the lady's room to freshen back up. Would you like anything from the bar on my way back?" I whisper to Ethan before scooting my seat back.

"No, I'm okay. Thank you, though." He responds with a sweet smile.

Walking to the edge of the reserved room, I glance around the corner to try to figure out where the restrooms might be in this massive building. After a few tries and squints, I finally spot the sign in the far back corner on the other side of the bar. I hold my purse to my side to keep it from swinging while my heels clack against the shiny tiled floor as I weave through the various tables filled with people. How can normal people afford this place?

As I turn one of the corners, a hand reaches out and clasps my wrist startling me and I'm on the verge of cursing out the creep that touched me until I look over to my left.

"Well, hello." Taehyung grins, keeping his hand gently wrapped around me.

"Didn't know you'd be here." I smile back at him and notice the man he's sitting across from. "Oh, hello."

"Sorry. Ava, this is Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee, Ava." Taehyung introduces us and reluctantly lets me go so that I can reach out to shake his hand.

Noticing that he's also Korean, I shake his hand with both of mine before giving a bow. His impressed nod towards Taehyung and his warm smile at me makes me feel proud that I still have it.

"Nice to meet you, Ava." The older gentleman says with a thick accent and a pat on top of my hand before letting me go.

"Bangapsipnida." I reply and muster out even more praise from the adorable gray haired gentleman.

"I told you she's wonderful." Taehyung croons with admiration. It still makes me giggle at how knowing even the slightest bit of Korean warrants such approval. "Mr. Lee is the CFO. We announce my role as CEO on Monday."

"That's great, Taehyung. I know Uncle Kim is so proud of you. I'm proud of you." I wink at him.

"Please, sit with us for a moment." Mr. Lee gestures to the open seat next to Taehyung.

As I look at Taehyung he looks so adorably hopeful that it makes my heart melt instantly. I glance back towards where the private room is and take a beat to think about it. It's not like I have to hurry to get back and I won't be long anyway.

"Thank you." Taehyung whispers as he beams with a child-like joy at me choosing to take a seat next to him.

I nudge him with my shoulder and give him a wink before turning to look at Mr. Lee. "I can sit down for just a moment. So you're going to be working with this one, huh? My condolences."

Mr. Lee chuckles at my playful remark, clearly understanding I'm not being serious at all. "How do you two know each other?"

"Hopefully she'll still be my future wife." Taehyung chimes in before I had a chance to say anything.

I smile over at him, bashfully lowering my head and peering back up at Mr. Lee who nods in understanding.

"Well, it's a good thing I got the opportunity to meet you." Mr. Lee politely acknowledges.

"Same here." I reply.

I glance up and see Ethan walking out of the room and chatting with Lucas. Looking back over to Taehyung, I watch his eyes follow where my line of vision just was and notice his smile fading away from his face. It stings my heart knowing I have to go back and that I'm slowly hurting him. When he notices my solemn expression, he does his best to plaster on a small reassuring smile that he's okay, but I know him better than that.

"Thanks for sitting down with us while you could, but I'm sure you need to get back to your friends." Taehyung politely and almost professionally remarks, giving me an out without making me look bad in front of Mr. Lee.

"Yes, I should." I give a tight lipped smile to both men.

Taehyung reaches out and grabs my hand, gently pulling me back towards him as he wraps me up in a seemingly friendly hug and whispers in my ear, "I love you."

"I love you, too." I whisper back to him, leaving a chaste kiss on his cheek as I pull away.

With every clacking slow step of my heels that I take towards the life I've grown to know, every fiber in my being is pulling on me to go back - to turn around and be near his side a little longer. My heart rips piece by piece until I look back to see Taehyung still watching me and my heart glows with a warmth I haven't felt since I was a teenager.

"Hey. Are you ready to go?" Ethan smiles at me when he sees me looking back in his direction.

"Sure." I do my best to give a happy smile, but when Ethan furrows his brow at me, I know he knows better than to believe my facade.

I watch him look over my head, my height doing little to hide any of the scenery behind me. His eyes search the floor trying to figure out what changed my mood so quickly and the moment his eyes land on the other piece of my heart, I can see his heart breaking just a little more.

Just like Taehyung, he tries to give me a reassuring smile but I know better than that. I'm selfishly keeping them both while not stopping to just make a damn choice.

Why can't life be simple for once? Why can't I just know and not hurt anyone in the process? Why can't I just have some stupid little fairy tale happily ever after without the twists and turns of real life making it harder to reach my destination?

Ethan grabs my wrist and kisses the back of my hand before pulling me closer to his frame. "I know this isn't easy for you either."

I shake my head, "It's not."

With a sweet kiss to my forehead, he turns and holds out his arm for me to hook mine with his before escorting me back out to his car. Just before we reach the door, I feel my phone buzz in my clutch letting me know I have a text.

"Wait here. I'll go pull around the car." Ethan mentions as he unhooks his arm with mine to start to trek across the street towards the parking garage.

As soon as he's out of sight, I pull out my cell phone to see who was texting me.

KTH:
He may have you now,
but I know you're mine.
I'm just waiting on you
to realize that, too.

How do I even respond to this? Do I leave him on read? Do I send an emoji?

KTH:
I know you're
overthinking my text lol

KTH:
No need to send a response.
I love you. Forever yours.

I chuckle and roll my eyes at his incoming texts. I wish I had a decent come back for him, but what can I even say? I can't confirm nor deny his statement. At least not yet.

I love you too.

Ethan pulls up to the curb in his Range Rover, flashing his emergency lights just before stopping to walk around and open my door for me. As I sit inside, I wonder if he's going to want to talk about any of it. Honestly, I'm just not in the mood. I know how he feels. I know how Taehyung feels and I need both of them to let me feel.

We drive in silence for a few blocks with only the radio playing softly and just when I think he's going to let it go, he clears his throat making me internally groan in frustration. I already know he's about to bring it up.

"So..." He begins.

"I really don't want to discuss it, Ethan." I calmly state with an annoyed tone of voice.

"I was just about to say-"

"Ethan! I don't want to talk about it!"

He huffs out an annoyed grunt as he stops at the light, the red glow casting an ambiance into the dark SUV, "Ava! I was just about to say you looked fucking beautiful tonight. What the fuck is your problem?"

My mouth hangs open and my tongue runs against the inside of my cheek at his tone as well as the realization that I had clearly felt more guilty about the situation than he even gave a second thought to. He knows the situation so why did I have my defenses up?

"I'm sorry for that. I-I don't know why I-"

"Assumed I'd be angry at you for hanging out with the other man you're in love with even though we're together and you don't know if you want to choose me or not because there's a chance that I won't actually be chosen." He cuts me off and says everything I would never actually verbalize.

I look over at him wanting to respond but the words just die on my tongue. He pulls up in front of my building and parks the car. Turning off the engine, he presses his head back on to the seat and closes his eyes tightly as if he's trying to stop himself from saying anything he might regret. I want to console him and tell him that it's not true, but I can't lie to him and put him through any more pain.

"Look, Ava." He opens his eyes and stares up at the glass car length ceiling, "I love you. I want you to be happy. I want you to be with who you want to be with," He turns his face to look at me, meeting my solemn gaze, "but I can't say it doesn't hurt knowing I'm not the obvious choice."

"I never wanted to hurt you." I say just above a whisper.

He reaches out for my hand and slowly intertwines his fingers with mine, "I know."

"I do love you." I remind him...and myself.

"I know." He repeats as he looks at my small hand in his large one and back up to my eyes.

"I don't want to lose you." I feel my eyes starting to grow wetter and wetter.

"Do you want to lose him?" He asks, already knowing the answer. All I can do is shake my head, "Well, baby, you're going to have to lose one of us."

"We were friends before." I do my best to argue the situation.

"Babe," He chuckles, "I was your friend. You were always the girl I was in love with."

"So if I choose him, I lose my friend, but if I choose you, I lose-"

"A man you're in love with." He finishes what he knows I couldn't say to him, "I don't hate Taehyung. He's got amazing taste in women, he's good looking and clearly must be a good man for you to be in love with him after all of this time."

"Are you trying to convince me to be with you or him?" I huff out a teary eyed chuckle.

He chuckles along with me, "All I'm saying is that it's not fair to either one of us to keep us waiting to know who you want. Just know that I will not hate you if you choose him. I will always love you, Ava."

The hot tears slowly stream down my face as I sniffle and shake the hair out of my eyes. I was so naive for hoping I could go through this with the possibility of not losing either one of them or being able to avoid anyone getting hurt. The look in Ethan's eyes tonight and the look in Taehyung's eyes as I had to leave him at the restaurant confirmed everything I hoped to not be true - that I was hurting them anyway by not choosing.

But I'm still stuck in between two men I love. How does one just simply choose? It's not a pair of shoes or a purse for the outfit of the day, it's not like deciding what dinner to make, or what paint color to choose for your manicure. This is three hearts involved and as much as we all try to act like it's no big deal, a broken heart is no easy fix.

"Let's go inside." He wipes the wetness away from my cheeks, "I just want to spend time with the girl I love."