You stepped out of your room after hours hunched over textbooks, your socks whispering against the hallway floor. The house was quiet, the kind of quiet that made the air feel still. Only the low murmur of the TV and the clink of ice in a glass broke the silence.

Jay was there. lounging on the couch like he belonged to the place, one arm hooked over the backrest, the other loosely holding a drink. The sleeves of his button-up were rolled to his forearms, collar undone just enough to look too casual for this late at night.

He looked up when he heard you. His eyes moved over your face, slow and steady.

“Well, look who’s finally done being a genius,” he teased, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Then, after a beat, “How old are you now?”

“Fourteen,” you answered, chin lifting with quiet pride.

Jay’s smile held, but something in his gaze shifted. He didn’t look away right away. Just studied you. Not in a way you fully understood yet, but you felt it. Like something settled behind his eyes.

“I can wait,” he said softly.

You blinked, confused.“Wait for what?” But he didn’t answer. Just smiled again, smaller this time. The kind that tucked something away.

He turned back to the TV, and you stood there for a second longer—feeling like you’d just stepped into a sentence with no ending.

Four years later. The hallway light buzzed softly as you kicked off your shoes, your birthday sash still looped over your shoulder like some forgotten trophy. Eighteen. The number still echoed in your head. You weren’t sure how you felt. older, maybe. Different.

And then you saw him. Jay stood near the kitchen, leaning against the counter with one hand resting on the edge. Same rolled-up sleeves. Same calm stare.

He looked at you like he hadn’t seen you in a while. Really seen you. “Sorry I forgot your birthday yesterday,” he said, voice low. “But happy birthday. Can’t believe you’re eighteen now, huh? Doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. You’ve grown up so much.”

He ruffled your hair affectionately, a trace of nostalgia flickering across his face you met his gaze, and this time, you weren’t confused. Jay didn’t say anything else. He just looked at you the way he had years ago—only now, you understood the meaning.

And quietly, in the space between your heartbeat and his silence, something shifted. It wasn’t just a birthday anymore. It was the moment everything he’d waited for… arrived.