ee years since

spaces in her chest-and the next, he was just... gone. No explanation. No

me you'

e

eighteen, sitting outside her college lecture hall in a ca

ill avoided unnecessary drama-but she had sharpened. She spoke up. She made professors pause with her insi

never

again, just like he used to-only now older, broader, and even more frustratingly confident.

nch without asking, his legs sprea

out him?" he asked, no

dn't a

apping it with one hand. "You know, most girls would be over a guy

"Most girls didn't grow up h

nced him

t at some point, holding on beco

d in waves-some laughing, some on calls, others ru

was doing? Making you wait? Maybe he wanted you frozen. So yo

away. Her voice came quiet,

caught mid-dare. "Why not?

gger. But the loyalty in his eyes. The steadiness that had somehow followed he

s, Brandon," she said, he

'm a reminder. That you're still here. Stil

ss, but confusion. Because some part of her heart, the part she had kep

esen

his jacket rust

"But I'm not going anywhere eith

th her coffee, her memories, and a thous

-

kept the pieces of her past. A faded photo of her and Sohni. A m

hed the

me you'

e

was time to st