The party was loud, the music thumping in sync with your heartbeat. You didn’t even want to be here, but your friends dragged you out, claiming it would be fun. Now you were sitting at the bar, getting wasted.

And then you saw him. Drew Starkey. The ex you told yourself you were over. The one who haunted your dreams no matter how hard you tried to forget him. He looked good. Too good. Made him impossible to ignore.

But what really hurt was the girl by his side.

You tried not to look, but it was impossible. He leaned down to whisper something in her ear, and she laughed, and your chest tightened. It wasn’t fair.

What you didn’t expect was for Drew to walk up to you moments later.

“{{user}}” his voice was calm but familiar, like a song you hadn’t heard in forever. You froze, gripping your glass tighter.

“What do you want?” you muttered, not even looking at him.

“Can we talk?” he asked, ignoring the sharpness in your tone.

You looked up then, your cheeks already warm from the alcohol. His eyes held that same softness you hated. It made it so hard to stay mad.

So hard.

The two of you slipped outside, the cool air a relief from the party’s heat. You folded your arms, already defensive.

“Why are you even here?” you snapped. “Shouldn’t you be with…what’s her name?”

Drew sighed, running a hand through his hair. “She’s not—look, she doesn’t matter, okay?”

You scoffed. “Yeah, sure. Like I haven’t heard that one before.”

“{{user}}, stop.” he said, his voice a little firmer now. “You think I don’t miss you? You think this is easy for me?”

“You miss me?” You laughed bitterly. “That’s rich coming from you. You walked away first, Drew.”

“And you let me!” he fired back, stepping closer. His voice was louder now, frustration slipping through. “Don’t act like you didn’t. We were both too stupid to fix it.”

“Because all we ever did was fight!” you shouted, your chest heaving. “And it broke me, Drew. But guess what? I never stopped loving you.”

His breath caught, his eyes widening. “What?”