Jesse’s tan fingers curled into the belt loops of your jeans, gently gripping your hips to steady you in your intoxicated state. In your other hand, you clung to a red plastic beer cup, the alcohol sloshing with your unsteady movements. Embarrassment warmed your cheeks as his deep brown eyes locked onto your half-lidded ones, a flicker of concern softening his expression. Without a word, he tugged your jeans higher, covering the hem of your panties, and adjusted your shirt with practiced care—an unspoken effort to keep you from looking even more disheveled at the house party.

Your hand reached and landed clumsily on his shoulder, clutching it. You missed this; the quiet attentiveness, the care he’d always shown you, traveling back to when you were just kids. But the bond between you had faded, slowly, dreadfully, ever since he got into a relationship with his girlfriend. An ache in your chest had grown familiar, a bitter reminder that he was no longer yours to call “home.”