After the question was asked, nothing felt the same again.
They kept talking but now, every message carried something unspoken. Conversations that once floated lightly now circled around one quiet center the possibility of seeing each other.
It wasn't said outright at first.
It slipped in gently.
Henric:
If we were to see each other…
Who do you think would come?
Lana smiled at her phone, shaking her head slightly.
Lana:
I honestly don't know.
And that was the truth.
Lana had never gone to meet someone she hadn't seen before. Never taken that step with a stranger whose voice she hadn't heard, whose presence she hadn't felt. She was careful like that. Life had taught her caution, even in moments that felt harmless.
Yet here she was trusting someone she had never met.
That realization alone scared her a little.
She didn't want to go.
But somehow… she wanted to see him.
The contradiction lived quietly in her chest.
One night, after rereading their chats for the third time, she typed:
Lana:
Maybe you should come instead.
It felt safer that way. Familiar ground. Her space. Her control.
Henric took longer than usual to reply.
Henric:
I wish I could.
I'm really tied up with a few things before I leave. I don't think I'll be able to come.
Lana nodded to herself, even though he couldn't see her.
That settled it, she told herself.
Lana:
That's okay then. Let's just leave it.
She meant it. Or at least, she thought she did.
Later that night, she mentioned it casually to her sister the one she vibed with effortlessly, the one who knew when Lana was pretending not to care.
"So you don't want to go?" her sister asked, watching her carefully.
"I don't," Lana replied too quickly. "I don't even know him."
Her sister smiled. "But you're curious."
Lana didn't answer.
Her friend was even more direct.
"If he's serious, he should come," she said. "Tell him to."
Lana laughed it off, but their words stayed with her long after the conversations ended.
Back in her room, phone in hand, she scrolled through Henric's messages again. They had only been talking for a week just one week and yet the conversations never felt forced. Even with Henric's quiet nature, there was comfort in the pauses, in the way he didn't talk just to fill space.
And that was when Lana noticed it.
She wasn't just being cautious anymore.
She was interested.
Interested in seeing how he smiled.
Interested in how his voice sounded.
Interested in whether the calm she felt through the screen would exist in real life.
That realization made her nervous.
She opened the chat again.
Lana:
My sister and my friend think you should come instead.
Henric read the message, then smiled faintly.
Henric:
I understand them.
But honestly, my schedule won't allow it.
Silence followed.
Lana placed her phone down, stood up, walked around her room, then picked it back up again. She went back and forth in her mind the same way their conversation went back and forth on the screen.
I shouldn't go.
But what if I regret not going?
It's just a meeting.
But what if it changes something?
She stared at the chat window for a long time before finally typing.
Lana:
Okay.
I'll come.
Henric's reply came almost immediately.
Henric:
Are you sure?
She smiled softly.
Lana:
Yes. I'm sure.
And just like that, the decision was made not loudly, not dramatically, but with the quiet courage that comes when curiosity finally outweighs fear.
They went back and forth one last time confirming details, laughing lightly, pretending it wasn't a big deal.
But deep down, both of them knew it was.
Because this was the moment where online conversations risked becoming memories. Where imagination met reality. Where two people who had never seen each other were about to step into the same space.
And as Lana set her phone down that night, her heart did something unfamiliar.
It hoped.
Not recklessly.
Not desperately.
Just enough.
Enough to wonder.
Enough to smile.
Enough to remember how it felt to like someone again.