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The invite is sitting beside him. It’s like a punch to the gut as he reads it over and over. He’s lost his chance; he has no chance now. Ellie’s getting married to some dude called Mark Degler who’s not good enough for her. The guy's name sounds like the noise Alan made when he puked after first reading the letter.
He plucks his notepad and a pen, trying to write down what he wants to say.
I’m sorry, Ellie. I wasn’t fast enough. I wanted to marry you, and I was so close. Even had the ring...
If I only had a few more days... days and... it would've been me marrying you... we could've had everything... it would've been me
It should be me.
I don’t know Mark. You’re too good for him... you’re too good for me. But I love you... I always have loved you. I always will love you.
You won’t get this, I can write whatever the hell I want.
I fucking love you, and I hate myself for hurting you. I’d give up everything to have you back here... fuck I really wanna come to the wedding and when they do that bullshit “does anyone object” I'd stand up. Tell everyone that I'm an idiot, that I love you and I'd rather die than see you with anyone else. One of them grand romantic gestures you love so much
But I can’t.
You deserve better.
you deserve your dream wedding
You’ll get your happy life, and I’ll stay a sad man in the middle of the desert.
it's for the best, you deserve everything and more... i cant give you that
I hope you think of me, I hope he’s everything you want.
I can’t come to the wedding, it’ll hurt me more and you don’t need to see me when you’re going on to the best stage of your life.
Yours
Alan
Alan growls and tosses the letter aside. He can’t send that to Ellie, can he? Of course not. He grabs another piece of paper and quickly scribbles.
Ellie, I’m sorry. I can’t attend your wedding – for my own sake and yours, it's for the best. Find enclosed a cheque, buy yourselves something nice. I wish only the best for you both.
Yours, Alan.
He throws the letters aside and decides to indulge himself in some digging for a while.
Ellie wanders over to the doormat, seeing a small pile of letters on the floor. She picks them up and while most are addressed to Mark, there’s one in a familiar script that fills her with hurt. She slowly sits down and reads the letter.
As she reads the letter, she looks around the house. Mark is... somewhere, but she hasn’t seen him in hours. She hasn’t spoken to him in days. And they’re getting married in a few days? As she reads the letter over and over, Ellie’s hit by the realisation that she doesn’t love Mark – quite the opposite in fact.
She loves Alan.
Not Mark.
Biting her lip, she picks some paper and writes down her own letter to Mark - I'm sorry, this isn’t working out. Packing a bag is easy, she still has most of her clothes packed, despite living with Mark for over a year. He’s never given her the closet space.
Ellie looks at the paper in her hands and leaves it on the bed, before hauling her bag over her shoulder. She leaves, and she doesn’t look back.
Alan is working away in his tent when he hears a woman talking to the students. He frowns and stands up, wandering over to the doorway of his tent.
“Alan Grant... there you are” she says.
“Ellie?!” he breathes, confusion covering his face. She nods and wanders over, pulling him into a hug.
“What... what are you doin’ here?” he asks, leading her inside of his tent.
“What do you mean? I got your letter... realised I love you...” she says, leaning against his desk. Alan frowns slightly and wanders over to the metal cabinet. He tugs the top drawer open, and papers fall out, but he finds the one he was looking for.
“Oh shit... I sent the wrong one” he chuckles slightly.
“Meant to send this one” he adds and slowly passes her the paper. Ellie bites her lip as she reads the letter.
“Thought you were gonna say you didn’t love me” she chuckles nervously, though she hasn't actually started reading the letter yet. The thought of being alone is terrifying her.
“Oh Ellie, I’ll always love you” he promises.
“I thought you wanted better than me though” he murmurs, looking down. Ellie slowly winds her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a kiss. Alan smiles slightly, but he slowly steps back.
“What about Mark?” he asks. Ellie shakes her head.
“I didn’t love him... I love you” she whispers. Alan bites his lip as he brushes his thumb along her cheek.
“Well...” he trails off and goes back to the drawer. He pulls out more letters, all addressed to Ellie.
“What the hell do you keep in there?” she asks. Alan shrugs, as he reaches into the drawer.
“Letters... most for you, never had the guts to send ‘em” he shrugs. Ellie lets a smile cover her face and she picks another letter up.
“And you say you’re not romantic” she teases, as she reads the most romantic thing she’s ever read in her entire life. Alan blushes slightly and finally finds what he’s looking for.
“A drawer of love letters, and all for me?” she asks, winding her arm around his shoulder. Alan nods and bites his lip.
“Yeah... it contains somethin’ else though... something I was too scared to ask, and then it was too late” he whispers. Ellie’s eyes widen as she realises what he’s referring to. He hands her a small black box, though he glances outside when he hears his name called from outside by a student.
“I’ll leave you here for a moment, feel free to get a coffee or whatever,” he says, leaving Ellie with the box as he wanders outside to the dig. She looks down at the box in her hand, and after a moment, she opens the box.
There’s a silver band inside, a perfect fit. She lets it sit on her finger before wandering out to Alan, taking his hand in her own.
"I'm staying..." she promises. Alan smiles and squeezes her hand gently.
Mark hasn't thought about Alan until almost a week later, when he remembers how fondly Ellie would speak about him. Finding where the man is - that job is surprisingly easy. The drive up to the dig site? Not so much.
He gets there though, and when he arrives, his eyes land on small groups of students. He can't see Ellie, maybe she's not here?
"Dr Grant! There's a guest" a student yells, almost as soon as Mark has climbed out of the car. He grimaces at the dust covering his car already.
"Where the fuck is my wife?" Mark asks, looking around at everyone. No one responds, all shrugging awkwardly. Ellie hears him though, she's off with a group of students a short distance away.
As she wanders over, she can hear Alan talking to Mark.
"I don't know you, pal. But where's my wife?" Mark growls.
"I... sorry, who's your wife?" Alan responds.
"You fucking know the bitch" Mark's fury can be felt from miles away.
"Don't call her a bitch" Alan growls. Mark chuckles slightly, but before Ellie can intervene, Mark punches Alan in the face. She jogs over and tries to restrain him, but Mark only lashes out further, attempting to hit her too.
Seeing that, Alan jumps up and with the help of a few students, they restrain Mark - though not before Alan gets his own punches in.
"Mark... I don't know what the hell you're doin' but you better get outta here" Ellie says, taking Alan's hand in her own.
"You fuckin' left me - for him? He'll be dead in a week, he was around with Tutankhamun" Mark asks. Ellie shrugs and squeezes Alan's hand for a moment.
"Alan's never hit me" she shrugs, though she frowns when she sees blood trickling along Alan's cheek from where he got punched.
"Get him outta here" she growls, and takes Alan's hand, leading him into his tent. She gestures for him to sit on his desk, while she searches the medi-kit for a cotton ball.
"You didn't have to defend me, you know..." she says, her voice soft as she coats a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol.
"Didn't have to, I wanted to" Alan shrugs, watching as she turns to face him.
"No one talks about a woman like that, 'specially not you" he mumbles, hissing slightly when she presses the cotton against the wound. Alan glances up at Ellie for a moment, squeezing her hand.
"Hey... look at me?" he asks, his voice soft. Ellie slowly meets his eyes, biting her lip.
"You deserve better than him... And I'm not much better... but God... if I ever become a douchebag like that... slap me" he murmurs. Ellie smiles and slowly kisses him.
"You'll never end up like that, not while I'm here" she promises. Alan smiles and kisses her cheek.
"For the record... I hate confrontations..." Alan chuckles. Ellie smiles and brushes her fingers through his hair as she brings her attention back to the wound on his face.
His stupidly perfect face that she can't help but kiss, over and over.