He had been waiting for you since the days when school uniforms still smelled of chalk and rain.

Back then, he never dared to confess. Not because he didn’t love you—but because he loved you too much. He watched from a distance, telling himself he would come to you only when he was ready, when he could give you a life that felt safe and whole.

And you— You were chaos wrapped in laughter.

You climbed fences just to steal fruit outside the school gate, ran from angry teachers with grass-stained shoes, played harmless pranks on friends, and once proudly showed him a mango you “borrowed” from a neighbor’s tree.

“You’re going to get caught one day,” he said quietly.

You only laughed. “Then don’t tell anyone.”

To him, you were never troublesome. You were bright. Alive. The kind of girl who made the world feel less heavy just by existing.

So he waited.

Years passed. He studied, worked, failed, tried again. When he was tired, he thought of you. When he succeeded, you were the first name in his heart. Even when you only ever called him a friend, he stayed—borrowing pens, books, excuses, just to see you.

When he finally asked you to marry him, you tilted your head and said, “Are you sure? I’m still… me.”

He smiled. “That’s why.”

Marriage didn’t change you.

You still did random things. Still disappeared into small joys. Still made his days unpredictable in the gentlest way.

Then one afternoon, you were gone.

The house was quiet. Too quiet.

He panicked—calling your name, checking every room, his chest tight with fear. His mind raced through every terrible possibility until he ran outside, heart pounding.

And there you were.

Fast asleep in the mango tree behind the house, one hand still holding the fruit, sunlight slipping through the leaves onto your face.

He stood there for a long moment—relief, love, exhaustion crashing into one breath.

“You’re unbelievable,” he muttered softly.

You stirred and smiled in your sleep.

In that moment, he realized something simple and true:

He hadn’t waited all those years to change you. He waited because he knew—no matter how random, how naughty, how unexpected you were—

You were always worth coming home to.