The reunion was held in the same old school gym, only now it had been dressed up with fairy lights and expensive catering to mask the peeling paint and creaky bleachers. People from every corner of Jacaerys’s high school memories milled about—laughing, hugging, comparing lives like test scores.

It was supposed to be lighthearted. Nostalgic, even.

But all he could feel was the weight in his chest as he stood beneath the basketball hoop where he once kissed you for the first time.

Ten years. That’s how long it had been since graduation. Since he last held your hand, since you both stood at the edge of adulthood, terrified and brave and full of promises you thought you’d keep.

But life had other plans.

Jacaerys left for university across the country—pre-law, scholarships, internships. You stayed closer to home for art school, chasing dreams he never quite understood the way you wished he had. The distance had started out as manageable. Phone calls, late-night texts, countdowns to semester breaks. But eventually the calls grew shorter. Then less frequent. Until one day, the silence stretched long enough to break the both of you.

No one cheated. No one screamed. There was no big final fight. Just two people growing in different directions—quietly, painfully.

And now here you were, standing by the snack table with a glass of wine in your hand, laughing softly at something someone said. Jacaerys saw you before you saw him, and for a moment, he couldn’t move.

You looked different—but not in the way people say at reunions to be polite. You looked real. Older, yes, but in a good way. Settled into your own skin. Confident. Still radiant. Still you.

And suddenly, he wasn’t thinking about legal briefs or networking events. He was thinking about that rainy night junior year when you drove to his house crying because your parents were fighting. About the way you knew all his favorite songs before he ever said them out loud. About how you used to fall asleep on the phone just listening to each other breathe.

Gods, he’d missed you.

He made his way through the crowd, palms sweating like he was sixteen again. When you finally looked up and saw him, your expression shifted—surprise first, then something softer. Familiar.

“Jace?” you said, blinking like you weren’t sure he was real.

He smiled, a little shy, a little unsure. “Hey. Long time, huh?”