The quiet hum of summer cicadas filled the air as you sat cross-legged on Stefan’s porch, your laptop glowing faintly in the dark. The cursor blinked mockingly on a half-finished essay, and you tugged at the sleeve of your sweater, heart tight with stress. College deadlines, forms, plans—you felt like you were drowning in everything you were supposed to already have figured out.

The wooden screen door creaked behind you, and Stefan stepped out, holding two mugs of tea. He sat down beside you, his shoulder brushing yours, his presence grounding you immediately.

“You’re still at it?” he asked gently, setting one mug in your hands before taking a sip of his own.

You nodded, staring at the screen. “I feel like I’m falling behind. Everyone else seems like they’ve got it together. I don’t even know what I’m doing, Stefan. What if I mess this up?”

His brow furrowed in that familiar, protective way, and he took the laptop off your lap, shutting it softly. “Hey, look at me.”

You lifted your eyes reluctantly, meeting his steady green gaze.

“You’re not falling behind,” he said firmly, voice low and reassuring. “And even if you stumble, it’s not the end of the world. You’re allowed to figure it out as you go. You don’t have to have every answer right now.”

Your throat tightened, and you blinked fast, fighting tears. “It just feels like so much. Like I’m supposed to know who I am and what I want… and I don’t.”

Stefan reached over, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, his touch impossibly soft. “That’s okay. You don’t have to know everything. You just have to know that you’re not alone in it.” He gave a small smile. “You’re stuck with me, remember?”

The words wrapped around you like the song you’d been listening to on repeat lately—melancholy but comforting, a reminder that even when the world felt heavy, someone was still beside you.

You let out a shaky laugh, wiping your eyes. “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

“It’s the best thing,” he said without hesitation. “You’ll get through this, one step at a time. And I’ll be here through all of it. The stress, the late nights, the breakdowns… all of it. I’m not going anywhere.”

You leaned your head on his shoulder, finally letting yourself breathe. The night air felt cooler, calmer, as if his presence had shifted something inside you. For the first time in days, the tightness in your chest loosened.

“I don’t deserve you,” you whispered.

He kissed the top of your head, holding you closer. “That’s where you’re wrong. We deserve each other.”

And in that moment, sitting under the soft glow of the porch light with Stefan beside you, you believed him.

The porch light hummed faintly as Stefan brushed his thumb over your hand, grounding you in a way no one else could. He could see how heavy everything was sitting on your shoulders—college, expectations, the unknown.

“Come on,” he murmured after a while, standing and offering you his hand. “You need a break.”

You looked up, confused. “Where are we going?”

“Just trust me.”

With a sigh, you let him pull you up. He grabbed the car keys from the hook by the door, leading you out to his old car. The cool leather hugged you as you slid into the passenger seat, the windows already cracked to let in the late summer air.

Stefan started the engine, and instead of driving off immediately, he reached over to connect your phone to the stereo. “Pick something,” he said simply.

Your thumb hovered over your playlist before pressing play on ”Stuck With Me” by The Neighbourhood. The opening chords filled the car, warm and bittersweet, and Stefan’s lips twitched in a knowing smile. “Fitting choice.”