Always, You

Zayn Blackwell was my first mistake. Five years later, he's the only one I'm still dying to make.

He wasn't just my first love-he was everything. My always. My future. Then he left for Seattle, and I was left with pieces of my heart and a silence that nearly drowned me.

I've spent five years putting myself back together. I have Mia, my morning walks, a clinic where I save animals instead of risking my heart on people. I've built walls so high nothing can touch me. I'm safe. I'm whole. I'm fine.

Until he comes back to Bellrose, and I realize I've been holding my breath this entire time.

The boy I loved is gone, replaced by a man I don't know anymore-broader shoulders, more tattoos covering skin I used to kiss, carrying keys to a house on the cliffs that shouldn't exist. A house built from every dream I ever shared with him. Every room is an apology he doesn't deserve. Every sunrise through those windows is a promise he's trying to keep.

He thinks he can fix what he broke. He thinks coming back is enough.

He wants a second chance. I just want to remember why I can't give him one.

Zayn swears his "always" was real. That he's staying this time. But what scares me isn't that he'll leave again. It's that I'm already hoping he won't.

In the small coastal town of Bellrose, some loves get a second chance and some hearts are braver than they think.