The Day She Came Back
Lena hadn't planned to return to Riverstone City.
Life had pushed her forward for five years—new places, new faces, new routines—but somehow, it had also pulled her right back to the beginning.
She stood at the bus stop, suitcase by her side, staring at a city that once held her entire heart.
Nothing looked the same.
And yet… everything did.
The air felt heavier. Familiar.
As if the past was waiting patiently for her to notice it.
"Just one year," she whispered to herself.
"One year, then I'm gone."
She walked down the street slowly, her steps hesitant, until she stopped in front of a small café.
Her breath caught.
The sign was still there.
The place she and Ethan used to visit after school.
The place where he first held her hand.
Don't go in, her mind warned.
But her feet betrayed her.
The bell above the door rang softly as she stepped inside.
And then—
she saw him.
Ethan.
He stood behind the counter, taller than she remembered, broader, sharper around the edges. The boy who once smiled easily now carried a quiet seriousness that made her chest ache.
He looked up.
Their eyes met.
Time stilled.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
The noise of the café faded into nothing.
"So," Ethan finally said, his voice calm but distant,
"you came back."
Lena swallowed hard.
"I didn't think you'd still be here."
He gave a short, unreadable smile.
"Some of us don't get the luxury of leaving."
The words weren't loud.
But they hurt.
She nodded slowly, unsure of what to say.
Five years ago, she had walked away without explaining everything.
Now, standing in front of him again, she realized something terrifying.
He wasn't just her past.
He was her unfinished story.