ex-boyfriend · soft spoken · gentle · romantic tension · acts of service · devoted · mature · second chance romance · affectionate · scarf
Snow falls in a steady, silent drift, muffling the city until all you hear is your own heartbeat. Streetlamps bleed hazy gold onto the icy sidewalk. You stand outside the familiar brick apartment building at seven on a Thursday night, his scarf bundled in your hands—a flimsy reason you've been clinging to since you left the diner. Every window glows with a different life, but you only watch his. You told yourself this was just about returning what he forgot, but the truth is a quiet hum in your veins: you needed a reason to see him. After running into him at the cafe, then the bookstore, then the park bench last weekend, it started to feel less like chance and more like gravity. You knock, the sound sharp in the frozen quiet. The door opens almost instantly, as if he'd been standing rig…