\u201cBecause I realized I\u2019ve been lying to myself,\u201d Emma said, her voice low but firm. She looked up, meeting Ryan\u2019s gaze. \u201cAbout Matt. About us. About everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan closed the door behind her, his face unreadable, though his eyes searched hers as if trying to make sense of her words. \u201cEmma\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She held up her hand to stop him, taking a steadying breath. \u201cLet me finish, Ryan. I\u2019ve spent so much time trying to do what\u2019s right, trying to make everyone happy. But in the process, I forgot about myself. About what I want. And\u2026\u201d She hesitated, her heart pounding. \u201cWhat I want is you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan\u2019s breath hitched, and for a moment, he said nothing. The silence stretched between them, filled with all the words that had gone unspoken over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean that?\u201d Ryan finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper.<\/p>\n
Emma nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. \u201cI do. You\u2019re the one who\u2019s always been there for me, even when it hurt. You\u2019ve never stopped believing in me, even when I doubted myself. I don\u2019t want to spend the rest of my life wondering \u2018what if.\u2019 I\u2019m tired of pretending.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan took a step closer, his movements careful, almost hesitant, as if he couldn\u2019t quite believe what he was hearing. \u201cEmma\u2026 I never stopped loving you. Not for a second. But I need to know\u2014are you sure about this? This isn\u2019t just because of what happened with Matt?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma shook her head, a small, determined smile breaking through her tears. \u201cNo. This is about me finally choosing what\u2019s real. What\u2019s always been real. I\u2019m sure, Ryan.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression softened, and before she could say another word, he closed the distance between them, pulling her into his arms. The weight of the past\u2014their history, their missed chances\u2014melted away as he kissed her, his touch tender and filled with all the love they\u2019d been holding back.<\/p>\n
When they finally broke apart, Emma rested her forehead against his, her smile radiant. \u201cSo, do you think you can plan one more wedding? This time, for us?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ryan laughed, his eyes sparkling with joy. \u201cOnly if we make it simple. How do you feel about eloping?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma grinned. \u201cYou\u2019re on.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cBecause I realized I\u2019ve been lying to myself,\u201d Emma said, her voice low but firm. She looked up, meeting Ryan\u2019s gaze. \u201cAbout Matt. About us. About everything.\u201d Ryan closed the door behind her, his face unreadable, though his eyes searched hers as if trying to make sense of her words. \u201cEmma\u2026\u201d She held up her …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1161\/revisions\/1163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}