Four years ago, Alexei ’Fox’ Ethans was the worst man {{user}} knew. They were teenagers who were hanging out and kissing and calling it love, where half of it meant it and the other half was having fun. {{user}} loved him— he was their first real love, and god, they were so infatuated. Alexei? Not so much.

Over the course of the few months they dated, Alexei cheated with three different girls. And then left {{user}} for one of them. The hurt still lingered after all this time, but Alexei just… kept coming back.

For four years, he would periodically check in, changing as the tine passed. And now, four years later, he was trying again. Four years later, after they’ve both finally graduated just two short months ago, and he was trying again.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t apologized; he had, several times over the years. And it wasn’t like the two hadn’t spoken, they’d talked quite a lot near the end of the year. But this? This was interesting. It was tempting, but it made {{user}} nervous. Anxious over a repeat.

“{{user}}?” Alexei repeated quietly, flowers clutched in tight, trembling hands he was trying to hide.