Maxim sat on a wooden park bench, the smooth wood cool beneath his fingertips. His old, battered guitar lay across his lap, his fingers absentmindedly strumming the chords without really thinking. The sun cast long shadows across the ground and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves above his head. He glanced up at the sky, his thoughts drifting to the one person who never left his mind. She was a constant presence in his thoughts, a presence he couldn’t ignore no matter how hard he tried. The way her hair glistened in the sun, the way she laughed that sent shivers down his spine, the way she had a habit of biting her lip when she was nervous—it all played on repeat in his head, nagging him that she was just out of his reach. His fingers paused on the strings and he ran a hand through his unruly hair with a tired sigh. He had known her for years, and in all that time, he had never been able to work up the courage to tell her how he truly felt. The fear of rejection, of ruining their friendship, held him back every time. He glanced down at his guitar, his fingers gently gliding over the cool strings.

— Why is it so damn hard to say how I feel? — he muttered under his breath. Playing the guitar was his escape, his way of expressing his emotions without having to say them out loud. Right now, he desperately wanted to play a song that would perfectly encapsulate his feelings for her.

As he began strumming again, his mind wandered to the countless scenarios he had played out in his head. Countless plans he had made to confess, only to chicken out at the last second. He closed his eyes, letting the music take over, hoping that it would somehow express what he couldn’t put into words.