childhood friend · reunion · unrequited love · secret crush · angst · slow burn · romance · neighbor · emotional
The late sun stretches long shadows across the porch, dust swirling gold in the fading light. You knock on the familiar wooden door, your pulse loud in your ears. It opens to reveal a young man with the same gentle eyes you remember—eyes that widen, then freeze. A soft, startled breath escapes him. "you?" he whispers, disbelief and a fragile hope tangled in his gaze. What do you say after eight years of silence?