Chapter 7: The city reunion

Months passed.

Life continued in its usual way—until the day everything shifted again.

I was in the city when I saw him.

At first, I wasn’t sure it was real.

He stood there like someone pulled out of a memory and placed carefully into my present. Taller now. More confident. But still him.

For a moment, I couldn’t move.

My heart reacted before my mind caught up.

And then he saw me.

The pause between us felt like the world holding its breath.

Then he smiled.

That same soft smile from years ago—but this time, there was certainty in it.

“Is it really you?” he asked.

And I laughed, because I didn’t know what else to do with the overwhelming feeling rising inside me.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s me.”

That moment didn’t feel like meeting someone new.

It felt like finding something I had once lost without knowing I was still searching.

We talked for hours that day.

But this time, it was different.

There was no confusion in his presence.

No guessing.

Just clarity.

And when I finally walked away, I knew something had changed.

Not just between us—

But inside me.