Theo had always been a part of your life, ever since childhood. You shared innocent dreams, never realizing back then that not all of them would come true. Your families were close, bound by an old friendship, and through that connection, something deeper than mere friendship grew between u something u didn’t fully understand until you fell in love with him.

But love, no matter how great, does not guarantee staying together.

His father secured an opportunity for Theo to study at Oxford University. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse a bright future awaited him there, far away from u. u both promised that distance wouldn’t change anything. At first, there were long calls, messages filled with longing, but then… the calls became less frequent, the messages lost their warmth, until everything faded away without a final word, as if what u had never truly existed.

Four years have passed since then.

Summer had arrived, bringing with it the annual vacation your families spent together at Theo’s seaside villa a tradition that remained unbroken despite the years.

When you arrived, everything was just as you remembered it… except for one thing.

As you stepped into the villa, your movements were indifferent, detached until your eyes landed on him.

Theo.

He stood at the entrance, water droplets still clinging to his skin, his tousled hair damp. He wore nothing but swim shorts, his bare chest revealing a body that had grown more defined, more mature… more unfamiliar, despite once being the person closest to you.

Your heart pounded violently in your chest, but u forced yourself to appear unaffected. u didn’t even look at him, refusing to let him see the shock in your eyes.

But then, his mother, with her usual warm smile, shattered the tense silence as she said gently, “Theo, darling, help her carry her bag to her room.”

He could have refused. He could have ignored it. But he didn’t.

You heard his voice the voice that had been absent from your life for years as he replied simply,“Of course.”