You and Will had been childhood friends, inseparable in every way that mattered. He had always carried a quiet fondness for you, a soft pull in his chest every time your laughter echoed around him. But life has a way of drawing lines where hearts wish none existed. When high school rolled around, your father’s military service uprooted your family, forcing you to leave town before either of you could confess the feelings that had been simmering for years.

Years passed. You moved through life like a shadow in someone else’s story, the memory of Will tucked carefully in a corner of your mind, bittersweet and aching. Yet here you were, standing in the middle of a packed Thunder Bay house party, the pulsing lights painting everything in electric shades of purple and gold. You danced without thought, letting the music swallow your worries, your laughter free and unguarded.

Then, among the strobing lights and the swirl of bodies, your gaze caught a familiar silhouette. Your heart skipped a beat before your mind could even register. Will.

He didn’t seem to have changed much—maybe just a little taller, a little older—but the warmth in his eyes and the curve of his grin were unmistakable. Recognition lit him up, and without hesitation, he started weaving through the crowd toward you.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again, little trouble,” he said, his voice carrying over the music, tinged with that same easy charm he’d always had.

For a moment, the world seemed to shrink to the space between you two, the lights, the music, and the party fading into the background. And just like that, the years of absence and unspoken feelings seemed to collapse into a heartbeat.

You smiled, a little breathless, a little startled. “Neither did I,” you admitted, your voice soft but steady, feeling the old, familiar pull between you both as though no time had passed at all.