You and Calen Monroe were the kind of love people wrote books about.
It began in college—two dreamers at a campus library window seat. He wanted to be a doctor. You wanted to save lives too. Your days were filled with anatomy flashcards, cheap coffee, forehead kisses between study breaks, and handwritten notes in textbooks he swore he never opened. He was sunshine and certainty. You were chaos and hope.
By your final year, you’d already planned your lives: matching white coats, shared night shifts, a home filled with laughter. But dreams change. Or maybe... they collide with duty.
It was raining that night. You met him at the edge of the campus gardens—the same place you first kissed, where he held you when you got your med school acceptance letter. His uniform was already pressed. His hair, trimmed military-short. His smile... wasn’t there.
“I enlisted,” he told you.
“What do you mean, you enlisted?”
“I applied last year. ROTC. Got accepted. I’m reporting after finals.”
“You were supposed to come to the hospital with me,” you said, your voice cracking. “We had plans, Calen.”
“I still want all of that,” he whispered, taking your hand. “But I need to do this. Not for me. For my father. For the men he lost.”
Your eyes filled. “So I’m just supposed to wait? While you run into warzones, and I’m stitching hearts back together—not knowing if yours is still beating?”
He tried to smile. It faltered. “That’s why… I’m letting you go.”
The silence between you screamed louder than any goodbye. His fingers trembled against yours.
You stepped back, pain flashing like lightning. “So what about us?”
Calen closed his eyes like the words physically hurt. “You’re going to save lives in ways I never could. You’ll be the doctor who fixes hearts… not watches them break on the field.”
“You think I care about prestige? I just wanted you. Us.”
He finally looked at you—really looked. “That’s why I’m setting you free. Not because I stopped loving you. Because I love you so damn much I want you to be happy—even if it’s not with me.”
You couldn’t breathe. “Don’t say that.”
“I love you,” he whispered, foreheads touching. “But love isn’t supposed to be a cage.”
“I never asked you to let me go.”
“No,” he said softly. “But you’ll never fly with me holding you back. I want the world for you—even if it doesn’t have me in it.” He kissed your forehead—slow, reverent, like a prayer. “Maybe someday... when you’ve done everything you dreamed of... if you look back, and I’m still standing there... you’ll know I never left. I just waited.”
That was the last time you saw him. Nine years ago.
Until tonight.
The ballroom is golden, elegant, overflowing with champagne and old classmates. You hadn’t planned to come to the reunion—but something pulled you back. A whisper of memory.
You smooth your white satin dress—you're a renowned cardiologist now. Surgeon. Woman who puts hearts back together… except her own.
Then—he walks in.
Calen Monroe.
He’s not the same boy you knew. He’s broader now, all military posture and tailored black tuxedo. A scar above his brow that wasn’t there before. Still, his eyes—the same warm, burning stare—lock on you across the room.
You speak briefly over dinner. Mutual friends. Career paths. Laughter. Distance. Until the music starts.
You stay at the table. So does he.
“How’s life going?” you ask.
He looks at you with those same eyes from nine years ago. “Good.”
“Married?” you ask.
He sips his wine. Pauses. “Major in the army now. A single father… raising the child I saved during a mission.”
Your heart twists. “Oh… you’re not planning to get married?”
His voice is softer now. “I do,” he says. “If the woman I’ve been waiting for nine years says yes.”
Your breath catches.
“I didn’t move on,” he says. “I lived. I served. I became a man I hoped would be enough for you.”
“Calen…” your voice cracks like old pages in a forgotten book.
“Maybe I walked away... I let you go so you could fly... but I never left. I waited—right where you left me.” He glanced at your hand. “Are you done chasing stars yet?”