The Little Things
The Little Things
Hazel’s POV
A year after our wedding, I realized something.
The happiest moments were rarely the ones we planned.
They were the unexpected ones.
The mornings when Ethan forgot where he left his keys and blamed the entire apartment.
The evenings when we cooked together and somehow made a bigger mess than the meal itself.
The weekends when we turned off our phones and explored parts of the city we had never seen.
Life wasn’t made of one grand moment.
It was made of thousands of small ones.
----
One Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of quiet music.
I opened my eyes and smiled.
“Ethan?”
No answer.
I walked into the living room and found him standing beside the bookshelf, holding a small wooden box.
“What are you doing?”
He turned around.
“I found something.”
I walked closer.
Inside the box were old photographs.
The first picture was from my first month at Blackwood Corporation.
I laughed.
“You kept this?”
He smiled.
“You were standing in the background of a company event.”
“And?”
“I remember thinking you looked like someone who belonged there.”
I looked at him.
“Even then?”
“Even then.”
----
Ethan’s POV
The photographs weren’t valuable because of what they showed.
They were valuable because of what they reminded us.
The beginning.
The uncertainty.
The moments when neither of us knew where life was taking us.
Hazel sat beside me, looking through the pictures.
“We’ve changed so much.”
“We have.”
“But somehow...”
She smiled.
“We’re still us.”
I nodded.
That was the part I treasured most.
Success had changed our circumstances.
Marriage had changed our lives.
But the people we were at the beginning were still there.
----
Hazel’s POV
That afternoon, we visited the small garden behind our home.
Ethan had planted flowers there because he remembered how much I loved gardens.
“You actually kept them alive.”
He looked offended.
“I am capable of taking care of plants.”
I smiled.
“That wasn’t always true.”
“That was years ago.”
“Your first plant lasted three weeks.”
“It was a difficult plant.”
I laughed.
“You blamed a plant.”
“It was a reasonable explanation.”
We both laughed until we couldn’t anymore.
And in that moment, surrounded by flowers and sunlight, I realized something.
The man who once seemed impossible to understand had become the person who knew me best.
----
That evening, we sat together watching the sunset.
Ethan took my hand.
“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we hadn’t met?”
I thought about it.
The answer was impossible to know.
Maybe we would have taken different paths.
Maybe we would have become different people.
But one thing was certain.
I was grateful for the path that brought me here.
“I don’t wonder.”
He looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because I’m too busy being thankful for this one.”
A quiet smile appeared on his face.
“Me too.”
The world continued moving around us.
New days would come.
New challenges.
New dreams.
But whatever waited ahead, we knew one thing.
We would face it together.
Not because life would always be easy.
Because we had built something strong enough to last.
----
Hey guys! ?? Hope you’re all well! ?? This story has officially come to an end, but I might do some editing down the road. ??? Thank you for everything! Bye for now and take care! ??