Lia didn't know how long they had been walking
The air smelled like wet pavement and old pine
The rain had stopped
but the sky was still holding onto its grey
They didn't talk much
They didn't need to
Their steps fell into rhythm
like they used to
when they still belonged to each other
even if no one ever said it out loud
Arven's hands were in his pockets
but every now and then
he glanced at her
like making sure this wasn't just another memory trying to play tricks
She caught him once
eyes soft
and for the first time in forever
she didn't look away
They stopped by the bridge
the one near 5th Street
the one where they first kissed
and last argued
She leaned on the railing
looking at the water
but not really seeing it
"I used to come here," she said quietly
"Just to see if you still left initials carved on the wood like you used to"
Arven smiled
half real
half remembering
"I stopped carving when you left"
he said
"Didn't feel right marking anything permanent when you weren't around"
She ran her fingers across the old surface
there were still initials there
faded
some scratched over
but one was still clear
A + L
circled
like a secret no one ever erased
"I never stopped coming back," she whispered
"Even when I wasn't ready to be seen"
His voice dropped lower
like it hurt to speak
"Why did it take ten years?"
She didn't answer at first
because there were too many answers
and none of them were enough
So she just said
"Because I thought you'd moved on And I didn't want to know for sure"
He let out a breath
not angry
just tired
"I tried," he said
"But even when I held someone else's hand
I looked for yours"
Lia turned to face him
her hair slightly messy from the wind
eyes tired but clear
"Is that what we are?" she asked
"Just old feelings wrapped in new skin?"
"No," he said
"We're something that never got finished
and some part of us never wanted to"
She stepped closer
close enough to see the tiny scar above his brow
the one she gave him during a snowball fight when they were twenty
"You remember everything," she said
like it scared her
"I tried to forget," he replied
"But you only forget the things you never loved to begin with"
Silence again
but not empty
not cold
It felt like standing in the middle of a house with broken walls
but still somehow standing
"I don't know what this means," she admitted
her voice cracking just enough to show she meant it
"I don't know if we're trying to go back
or just afraid of going forward without each other"
He didn't reach for her
didn't press her
But his words came steady
the way truth usually does
when it's been waiting too long
"I'm not asking you to stay tonight"
he said
"I'm just asking you not to leave like you did last time
Without goodbye
Without giving us a chance to be honest"
Lia bit her lip
and looked away
because the weight of honesty is heavier than lies ever are
"I wrote you a second letter," she said
soft
almost inaudible
"When?"
"Two years ago"
She laughed once
dry
"Another one I didn't send"
"What did it say?"
She looked at him
really looked
"It said I still wore your sweater every winter
even when I was supposed to be loving someone else"
He blinked
like that confession landed somewhere deep
past the years
past the silence
"Lia…"
She stepped forward
just a little
and her voice broke again
but this time it didn't matter
"I didn't come back to say goodbye"
He stayed still
but his eyes
they reached for her
"Then why?"
She swallowed
her heart beating louder than the quiet around them
"I came back because no matter where I went
I was always walking in circles that led back to you"
The sky cracked open above them
not with rain
but with a hush that wrapped around everything they were too afraid to say
He didn't answer with words
Just closed the space between them
and rested his forehead against hers
And for the first time in a decade
neither of them ran
They didn't kiss
They didn't promise anything
But in the stillness
they let the moment hold them
because sometimes
healing doesn't look like fireworks
or grand gestures
Sometimes it's just two people
finally standing in the same place
at the same time
And meaning it
---
They stayed like that for a while
no words
no movement
just breath shared in silence
Lia could feel it again
the weight of what they never said
the gravity of what still existed
It wasn't a fairytale
Not anymore
But it was real
and real was enough
"Do you regret it?" she asked suddenly
not looking up
just letting the question slip into the cold air between them
He didn't answer right away
She could feel him thinking
deep and slow
like the truth was harder than it sounded
"No," he said finally
"I regret what we lost
but not what we were"
She nodded
quietly
the kind of nod people do when they want to cry
but choose not to
"I hated you for a long time," she admitted
"I hated how you made me feel seen
and then let me go like I never mattered"
Arven didn't flinch
didn't defend himself
He just listened
"You weren't easy to hate," she added
her voice softer
"You were still the only voice I heard when the world got too loud"
"I never let you go," he said
calm
clear
"I let myself believe I had to"
Lia's throat tightened
the way it always did when words carried too many memories
"I broke us," she whispered
"No," he said
"We both did
piece by piece
quietly
until there was nothing left but silence"
They stood side by side again
hands brushing
not quite holding
not quite apart
"You know what I hated more than missing you?" she asked
"The idea that you were out there
maybe with someone else
laughing
building something I should've fought for"
Arven turned
slow
gentle
"I was never whole after you, Lia
Not even close"
She laughed
once
but it sounded too much like crying
"I spent years pretending I didn't care
until the pretending hurt more than the missing"
He finally reached for her hand
slow
careful
like asking for permission without words
She didn't pull away
"When I heard you were back in town," he said
"I couldn't breathe for a moment
because I wasn't sure if it would destroy me or save me"
Lia looked up at him
eyes wet
but alive
"Maybe we don't need to know which one yet"
They walked again
slow steps
back toward the café
toward the street they used to call theirs
Everything had changed
but somehow
everything was exactly where they left it
"Do you still write?" he asked as they passed the old bookstore
"Not like I used to," she said
"Words don't come easy when the heart is tired"
"You used to say writing was how you stayed alive"
"I did," she nodded
"But then I stopped wanting to stay alive in the same way"
Arven looked at her with something softer than sympathy
something deeper than understanding
"Write about this," he said
"About us
Even if no one reads it"
She smiled
small
shy
"But you'll read it?"
"I already am," he said
"Every time you speak"
They reached the steps of her building
the one she'd just moved into again
and stood there
neither one reaching for the door
because some goodbyes are harder than others
even temporary ones
"I should go in," she said
"You should," he echoed
But neither moved
"Arven…"
"Yeah?"
"If I run again
will you chase me this time?"
He stepped closer
so close she could feel the warmth of his breath
"No," he whispered
"I won't chase you
I'll stand still
until you realize you were never meant to run alone"
She looked at him
really looked
and something inside her finally stopped trembling
"Goodnight," she said
"Not goodbye?"
She shook her head
"Never again"
And as she stepped inside
she didn't feel like she was closing a door
She felt like
for the first time
she was finally opening one
---
Lia stood by the window
lights off
only the glow from the street below dancing on her skin
and her heart
for once
wasn't racing to run away
it was learning how to stay
She could still feel the warmth of Arven's hand
as if her fingers remembered better than her mind ever could
She touched her lips
not because they had kissed
but because they almost did
and sometimes
the ache of almost
hurts more than goodbye
She didn't sleep that night
not really
She lay on the bed
fully dressed
eyes open
watching the ceiling as if it might answer everything
Because what do you do
when the person you tried to forget
reminds you who you are again
Morning came quiet
with a whisper of sunlight peeking through the curtain
She didn't need coffee
She needed clarity
But clarity never came in a cup
and it definitely didn't come with answers
Her phone buzzed
just once
a message from an unsaved number
but she knew exactly who it was
"Same café. Same table. No pressure."
She stared at the words
heart clenching
because no pressure felt like a thousand pounds
when the person waiting was the one you broke
She didn't reply
She just got up
pulled on the same coat she wore yesterday
and walked out the door
like she didn't need to think about it
but every step was loud
like footsteps in memory
Willow Brew looked exactly the same
but also
like it had been holding its breath for years
just waiting for this morning
He was already there
of course he was
back straight
hands wrapped around a cup that was probably already cold
She opened the door
and for the second time
in what felt like the same lifetime
he looked up and saw her
This time
he smiled first
"You came"
She nodded
barely
but it was enough
"I thought about not coming," she said honestly
"I thought about not texting," he replied
"But you did"
"But you did"
They sat
again
no one took the first sip
because coffee wasn't the reason they were there
"I couldn't sleep," she whispered
"Me neither," he said
"I kept replaying everything you said last night
every word
every silence between your words"
She stared down at the table
"I don't know how to do this, Arven"
"Do what?"
"Be around you
and not fall in again"
He was quiet
not because he didn't know what to say
but because he wanted to say it right
"Then don't fight it," he finally said
"Maybe falling is what we were always meant to do"
She shook her head
tears pressing
"I'm scared I'll break you again"
"You won't"
"You don't know that"
"I don't care," he said
soft
but certain
"Even if I get hurt again
I'd rather feel everything with you
than nothing without you"
She blinked fast
trying to breathe past the lump in her throat
"People change, Arven"
"I know"
"I'm not the same girl who left"
He reached across the table
gently
his fingers brushing hers
not grabbing
not forcing
just being there
"Good
Because the girl who left was scared
And the woman in front of me
is brave enough to come back"
She looked at him
really looked
and something inside her shifted
"I'm not promising anything," she said
"You don't have to"
"I still don't know if this will work"
"Neither do I"
"But I want to try," she whispered
Arven smiled
not wide
not dramatic
just real
"That's all I've ever wanted"
And right then
the world outside kept spinning
cars moved
people walked
the sky changed colors
but inside that tiny café
two people who thought they lost everything
realized
some things
never really left
---