Friends With All the Benefits

Epilogue - Ethan

A ll my close friends gathered in my backyard for a mid-autumn barbeque, enjoying the perfect weather before it turned cold. Joyce was busy grilling the meat while she chatted with Ellie, Hannah and Callum. I had supposedly gone inside the house to grab more beer, but in fact, I had snuck to the bedroom I shared with Ellie, reached for a hiding spot I knew she would never find, and picked up the ring box I had stashed there for the last few weeks.

My mother had helped me pick out the ring, and she was crying tears of joy the entire time. I chalked up the extra emotion to her trying to deal with all her children having flown the nest. Joyce had been moved out for months, but Mum still hadn’t gotten over it. The jeweller tried to use my mum’s emotions to push us towards buying a bigger ring, but I knew exactly which one Ellie would like and I didn’t budge.

It had been more than a year since Ellie first moved in, and only five months since we got together for real and she came home to me. I was going to propose to her tonight. From the outside, it might have looked like things were moving really fast, but the truth was we had been friends for years, and together in all but label before we got together for real. There was no one else I could imagine my future with.

It had taken some doing, but Ellie was finally convinced to buy part of this cottage so she could truly feel like it was hers. It was important to her, but to me, I knew that everything I owned was already hers. I had saved all the money she paid me for her share of the house and put it into a joint account with her. It would be my surprise to her because I knew that when—if—she said yes to me, she’d immediately start fretting about wedding costs.

We would be fine. We were both good with money and all I had was hers to spend. She could have anything she wanted, and I would do everything in my power to give it to her.

Things were amazing between us, and I still shuddered when I remembered how close I came to losing it all. I knew beyond a doubt that Ellie loved me and wanted to be with me, but I was still nervous the entire evening.

Callum was in on my planned proposal, and he had been shooting me glances all evening, waiting for my signal, but I never gave it to him. I was so nervous that missed my chance when everyone finished eating. I missed another opportunity when everyone piped down for dessert. Now everyone had moved on to gambling at cards, with Ellie’s prized cherry tomatoes as the currency of choice. It was now or never.

Callum sensed something was up and looked my way. I nodded and Callum cleared his throat, putting his cards down. The girls stared at him curiously.

“For the record, I was winning anyway,” he grinned, then motioned towards me. “Ethan has something he wants to say.”

I got down on one knee in front of Ellie and pulled the box out of my pocket.

Ellie’s eyes widened in realisation. Her hand went to her mouth.

“Ellie, I love you with all my heart. You’re my best friend, and I want to be with you and grow old with you because I can’t imagine doing it with anyone else.” I had a speech memorised. Right now, as words spilled out my mouth, I wasn’t sure how much of it I was sticking to, but I meant everything I said to her. “Will you be my best friend for life—my love and my wife? Will you marry me?”

All our friends looked on with big grins on their faces. Callum was smiling. Hannah was just as overcome as Ellie was. They had gotten married in summer in a small, intimate ceremony we all attended, and were happy that it was soon to be our turn. Joyce nearly fell off her seat in excitement. All that was just a blur to me, because right now, my eyes were only on Ellie.

There were tears in Ellie’s eyes.

“Yes, Ethan. I will marry you. Yes.”

A cheer went up around us, but all I heard was her answer. She pulled me to my feet, and I swept her into my arms for a kiss. She said yes, she really said yes.

“You’ve made me the happiest man in the world,” I whispered to her. “And I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy for the rest of our lives.”

It was a promise, and Ellie knew I always kept my promises.

THE END