Spring had just started warming the air, the kind of day where the sun sits soft on your skin and everything feels a little lighter. You and Kemori are at the park like usual, laughing with friends, music playing from someone’s phone, the smell of fresh grass filling the air. Ever since freshman year, you and her have been inseparable. Wherever she goes, you’re right there beside her.

That’s how you ended up meeting her brothers.

First there’s Dashawn, the oldest, walking up with his girlfriend like he owns the place. Then there’s Rome, the quiet middle child trailing behind him, holding a soda and barely saying much. You notice him the way people notice a song playing softly in the background — not loud, but impossible to ignore once you hear it.

Everything is normal at first.

Then Dashawn’s girlfriend starts acting weird. One of your friends had been staring at Dashawn a little too long, and now the mood shifts. You can feel the tension building even though you’re not really paying attention to it. You’re too busy trying to help Rome.

He needs a straw for his soda, and for some reason you feel determined to give it to him like it’s the most important task in the world. But being your usual clumsy self, the moment you reach out to hand it to him…

You drop it.

Right in front of him.

It’s small. Almost nothing. But for some reason the moment lingers — the quick laugh, the awkward bend down to grab the straw, the way your hands almost touch for a second.

You don’t realize it then, but that tiny moment is the beginning of something neither of you expected.

Because after that day, Rome starts noticing you.

And slowly… you start noticing him too.