Chapter 1 1

It was the last week of summer, and the late afternoon sun dipped lazily behind the skyline, casting a golden haze over the small town of Maplewood. On the worn porch of the Thompson house, Ava Whitmore leaned back in the squeaky swing, one leg tucked under her as she sipped a cold lemonade. The air smelled of cut grass and distant barbecue, the soundtrack of a town clinging to the last breath of freedom before college swallowed its youngest whole.

"You're quiet," came a familiar voice from beside her.

Ava didn't have to look to know it was Jace Carter. He sat next to her on the swing, elbows resting on his knees, head tilted like he could read her thoughts if he just looked hard enough. His dark brown curls were a mess, falling into his eyes, and the tanned skin on his arms was a testament to long days working at his dad's auto shop.

"I'm thinking," she said, giving him a sideways glance. "Which you should try sometime."

Jace grinned, nudging her shoulder with his. "Thinking or worrying?"

"Same difference when you're about to leave behind everything you've ever known."

He leaned back and looked at her, really looked at her-the way only someone who'd known you since age six could.

"You're gonna be fine, Ava. You always are."

"But what if we're not?" she whispered, her voice barely above the hum of the cicadas. "What if college changes everything?"

"It's supposed to," he replied. "Isn't that the point?"

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she traced her finger along the rim of her glass. "Yeah, but it's scary. You and me... We've always been us. What happens when we're not?"

Jace shifted uncomfortably. "Who says we won't be?"

There it was again-that thin line they never dared to cross. The unspoken question that had lingered for years: Were they just best friends... or something more?

Ava swallowed and stood, brushing invisible dust off her shorts. "I should get home. Mom's making chicken pot pie, and if I'm late, she'll guilt me with her 'last family dinner before college' speech."

Jace stood too. "You know she'll still guilt you over the phone when you're away."

Ava laughed, the sound soft and sad. "True."

They walked down the creaky porch steps in silence, falling into step like they always had-her left, his right. Their hands brushed, but neither reached out to close the gap.

"Are you packed?" he asked.

"Mostly."

"I can help."

"You always say that, and then you get distracted by my books or reorganize my record collection."

"It's called improving your system."

Ava smiled. "My system doesn't need improving."

Jace didn't argue. He just looked at her again, and there was something in his gaze this time-something heavier.

"Hey," he said, stopping at the edge of her driveway. "Promise me something?"

"Depends."

"That no matter what happens this year... we don't lose each other."

Ava hesitated.

They were both leaving Maplewood-different colleges, different cities, different futures. They'd told each other they could handle it, that their friendship was too solid, too real to fade. But saying something and living it were two different things.

"I promise," she said finally, her voice soft.

Jace smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

---

Three weeks later, Ava stood in the middle of her dorm room, surrounded by boxes and chaos, and felt more alone than she had in years.

Her roommate, Camila, was nice enough-confident, cool, and already gone to some club meeting. The walls were still bare, the air sterile, and the reality of college was beginning to set in. Her phone buzzed for the third time in five minutes.

Jace:

Did you find the coffee shop I told you about? The one with the blue mural?

Ava:

I walked past it twice. How did you even remember that place?

Jace:

Photographic memory. And because you like places with "character."

Ava:

I do like character.

Jace:

So... what's the verdict?

She looked around her room again, sighed, and typed:

Ava:

Feels weird without you here.

There was a pause, then his reply.

Jace:

Yeah. Same.

She stared at the screen, thumb hovering. She wanted to say more. Wanted to tell him she missed him already. That every second in this new world felt wrong without his sarcasm and familiar presence.

But she didn't. Instead, she tossed the phone onto the bed and went to unpack her books.

---

College moved quickly. Classes, study groups, dorm meetings, parties. Ava made friends-some close, some casual-but none of them knew her the way Jace did.

They still texted, sometimes late into the night. Sometimes with pictures of bad cafeteria food or weird campus sightings. But the space between their messages grew with time zones and schedules and the slow, inevitable pull of new beginnings. It wasn't until the end of October that things shifted again.

Ava was at a Halloween party, dressed as Wednesday Addams, sitting on a balcony with a red cup in her hand and a tired heart in her chest.

Her phone buzzed.

Jace:

You free?

She smiled before she could stop herself.

Ava:

Barely surviving this party. You?

Jace:

Wanna talk?

She didn't hesitate.

Ava:

Always.

They switched to video. The moment his face filled her screen, she felt something settle in her chest.

He was in his dorm, messy hair, hoodie, warm eyes.

"You look exhausted," he said.

"You look like you haven't shaved in three days."

"I haven't."

She laughed. "How's it going over there?"

"Busy. Good. Weird."

"Same."

There was a pause. Then Jace said, "I met someone."

Ava blinked.

"Oh."

"Her name's Fallon. She's in my psych class."

"Cool. That's... cool."

He didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at her.

"You mad?" he asked, a little too gently.

"No," Ava lied. "You should... you deserve to meet someone."

"So do you."

She gave a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"I just... I didn't think you would."

"I didn't think you would either."

Their words sat between them, heavy.

Ava cleared her throat. "Anyway. Happy for you."

He didn't thank her. He just nodded.

"I should go," she said. "Party's dying."

"Right. Talk later?"

"Yeah. Of course."

She hung up first.

---

In the weeks that followed, Ava tried to move on too. Went on a few dates. Smiled through the awkwardness. Kissed someone under twinkling lights and felt absolutely nothing.

Because they weren't Jace.

Because every moment she spent trying to forget how he made her feel only reminded her how irreplaceable he was.

---

Christmas break came, and Maplewood was blanketed in snow. Lights twinkled on every porch, and the town smelled of cinnamon and nostalgia.

Ava found herself back on that same porch swing, wrapped in a blanket, waiting.

Jace showed up ten minutes later, taller somehow, but still the same.

"Hey, stranger," she said.

"Hey, Whitmore."

He sat beside her. They didn't speak for a while.

Then, quietly, Jace said, "Fallon and I broke up."

Ava looked at him. "Why?"

He didn't meet her eyes. "She said I wasn't really with her. That part of me was still somewhere else."

Ava's heart thudded. "And were you?"

Jace finally looked at her.

"You know where I was."

Silence. Thick. Charged.

And then, Ava whispered, "Maybe we were always meant to be something more."

"Maybe we were just too scared to admit it."

He reached out, took her hand in his. It was warm. Steady. They sat there, snow falling quietly around them, hearts thudding in rhythm, no longer running from the truth.

Ava's fingers were still wrapped in Jace's, and for a second, neither of them said anything. The cold was biting at the edges of her blanket, but she hardly felt it. Not when her skin was tingling with something else entirely-something old and familiar, and suddenly much harder to ignore.

"Do you remember that time in sixth grade," Jace said, his voice low, "when you made me dance with you at the spring social?"

Ava smirked. "How could I forget? You stepped on my foot five times."

"Six," he corrected, chuckling. "And you threatened to dump your punch on my head if I didn't at least try to follow the beat."

She laughed, the sound light and real. "You were awful. Still are."

"I improved," he defended.

"Barely."

They both grinned, but it faded as quickly as it came.

"I used to think about that moment," he said, eyes on the snow-covered lawn. "Even back then. Like, maybe that's when I first started liking you as... more than just my annoying best friend."

Ava looked at him sharply, heart thumping.

"You did?"

He nodded slowly. "But you were dating Caleb Marsh by seventh grade, remember? And then Nate in ninth. I figured I missed my chance."

"You never said anything."

"I didn't want to ruin us," he murmured. "What if you didn't feel the same?"

She stared down at their joined hands. "I thought about it too."

His brows lifted. "You did?"

"Of course I did. I mean... You were my first crush, Jace. But I was scared too. I thought if I lost you, I'd lose everything."

He looked at her then, really looked. "So we just kept pretending?"

She nodded. "Yeah. And maybe we got too good at it."

They sat in silence again. The kind that didn't need to be filled, but now pressed on them with years of repressed emotion.

Jace shifted closer. His shoulder brushed hers. "Do you ever wonder what might've happened if we didn't wait?"

"All the time," she whispered.

There was snow falling on the porch, the wind whistling through the nearby trees, but all Ava could feel was his warmth, his presence-solid, steady, achingly close.

Jace's thumb brushed along the back of her hand. "I thought college would make things clearer. That maybe we'd grow apart and it would answer everything for us."

"Did it?" she asked.

"No," he said, his voice tight. "It just made me miss you more."

Ava's heart cracked open with those words. Every memory they'd built, every near-confession they'd buried over the years, came rushing to the surface.

She turned to him fully. "Then why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Because I didn't know if you felt the same. Because we were in different cities, meeting new people, starting over. I didn't want to drag you into something long-distance if you didn't really-"

"I did," she said, cutting him off. "I do."

His breath caught.

"I thought I was imagining it," she continued. "That maybe I was holding onto something that only existed in my head. But every time I talked to you, every time I saw your name pop up on my screen, I felt-safe. And... scared."

Jace brushed a strand of hair from her face. "Scared of what?"

"That maybe we weren't meant to be."

"Or maybe," he said softly, "we've been meant for each other this whole time, and we just didn't know how to admit it."

Her heart thudded so loud she was sure he could hear it. His hand cupped her cheek now, his eyes searching hers for permission-for truth.

She didn't speak. She just leaned in, closing the space between them with years of longing in one trembling kiss.

It was soft. Slow. Familiar, yet new. His lips tasted like peppermint gum and something she could only describe as home.

When they pulled apart, their foreheads pressed together, Ava's breath came out shaky.

"I've wanted to do that for so long," she admitted.

"Me too," Jace whispered, brushing her cheek with his thumb. But the moment, warm as it was, carried weight.

Ava pulled back slightly. "What now?"

Jace sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're going back to school in a few weeks. Different cities, different lives."

"I know."

"I don't want this to be just a holiday thing, Ava."

"Then don't let it be," she said. "I don't care about distance. If we've made it this far, we can survive a few hundred miles."

Jace looked at her, uncertainty still flickering in his eyes. "Are you sure?"

She smiled, threading her fingers through his. "I've never been more sure of anything."

---

That night, Ava lay in bed staring at the ceiling, heart pounding with the weight of what had just happened. They had kissed. After all these years, after so many almosts and maybes-they had finally crossed the line... But with the euphoria came doubt.

They'd known each other nearly their entire lives. How do you go from years of friendship to romance without breaking everything?

She picked up her phone. A message was already waiting.

Jace:

You still up?

Ava:

Yeah. Can't sleep.

Jace:

Me neither. Want to meet at the lake tomorrow morning?

Ava:

Like old times?

Jace:

Exactly like old times.

---

The lake was frozen when she arrived the next morning, a thin sheet of ice reflecting the pale pink sunrise. It was the same lake they'd spent summers swimming in, the same one where they'd snuck off as kids to escape boring family picnics.

Jace was already there, hands in his coat pockets, watching his breath rise in little puffs.

"Hey," he said when he spotted her.

"Hey," she replied, walking up beside him.

They stood there for a moment, just watching the frozen water.

"You know," he said, "we once made a pact here."

Ava blinked. "What pact?"

"Summer after eighth grade. You were crying because your parents were fighting a lot, and I said we'd always be there for each other. No matter what."

She smiled faintly. "I remember."

"I meant it."

"So did I."

He took a deep breath. "This... us... It's not going to be easy. We'll fight. We'll miss each other. We might doubt ourselves."

She turned to him. "But we'll have each other."

He nodded. "Yeah. That's all I want."

Ava stepped closer, slipping her gloved hand into his. "Then let's stop wasting time."

Jace kissed her again, and this time it wasn't tentative. It was filled with a kind of relief, like something that had been waiting years finally fell into place.

When they pulled apart, she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"We should probably tell our moms," she muttered.

He groaned. "Your mom's going to cry. Mine's going to throw a dinner party."

"She's been planning it for five years."

"I know," he said with a laugh. "She used to say we were a 'slow burn.'"

"She wasn't wrong."

They sat down on the snowy bench near the edge of the lake, shoulders touching, watching the world wake up around them. For once, Ava didn't feel like she was running from anything. Not fear, not doubt, not even the future.