Chapter 1
The Beginning We Never Questioned
I thought we had time.
Time to fix things.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbpjK7GZqe
Time to grow.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhxpVz8eTH
Time to become better for each other.
But love doesn’t wait for you to mature.
By the time I realized how much she meant to me, I was already watching her slowly slip away, not because she stopped loving me, but because I didn’t know how to love her the way she needed.
That’s my regret.
Not that we ended.
But I didn’t fight the right way while we were still together.
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I didn’t meet her in a crowded room.
There were no accidental touches.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9cxUVFxEm
No dramatic eye contact across a café.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDO7xuhR7je
No universe-shifting background music.
I met her in a quiet corner of the internet.
A glowing screen.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiUpnUG9Xq
A simple notification.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2VPFeJZIw
A message that didn’t look important at first.
If I had known that small “hi” would change the way my heart works, maybe I would have stared at it a little longer before replying.
But I didn’t.
It started simple.
Late-night conversations that lasted until 2 a.m.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS7Jyf3RzSS
Random jokes.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAs6HkRZNkJ
Memes.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxhCoi1L68
Stories about our day.
She was miles away, but somehow she felt closer than anyone physically beside me.
There’s something dangerous about meeting someone online.
You fall in love with their mind first.
Her thoughts.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EnyCmR00i
Her fears.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNw5ECSqXC
Her dreams she didn’t tell everyone about.
I learned the way she types when she’s happy.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGyszSIF3P
The way her replies get shorter when she’s overthinking.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0RNycEJoqS
The way she says “it’s fine” when it’s not.
No one warned me that you can miss someone you’ve never held.
No one warned me that a screen can become a doorway to something real.
At first, it was nothing special.
Just two strangers passing time.
“What are you doing? ”177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrzGZyFmsj
“Nothing. You? ”177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87I39PcWJm
“Have you eaten yet?”
Simple questions that seemed meaningless.
But that’s where things begin without you even realizing it.
Our conversations weren’t grand. Nothing deep right away. No dramatic confessions. Just casual talks about school, stress, and random thoughts at midnight.
But slowly, something shifted.
She became the first person I wanted to tell things to.
When something good happened.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOccdT0BTPS
When I had a bad day.
And then I noticed something.
I started waiting.
Waiting for her reply.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrBNsN0PPc
Waiting for her name to light up my screen.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1YXTzUD2w
Waiting for that tiny notification sound like it meant more than it should.
The talks became longer.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0p8MqjzYD
The jokes became softer.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjLOxJJTSN
The “good nights” turned into “don’t sleep yet.”
There was this one night—nothing special on the outside—when we were just laughing about something stupid. And suddenly I caught myself smiling at my phone like an idiot.
That’s when it hit me.
This isn’t just casual anymore.
The “take care” started feeling warmer.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNIPOC9zra
The “have you eaten? ” felt like someone genuinely cared.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfdU3oHBVM
The teasing turned into butterflies.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaSc3sMVwL
The butterflies turned into comfort.
And comfort… turned into attachment.
I didn’t notice the exact moment I fell.
There was no countdown.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYOnaymTi2
No warning.
Just one day I realized
She wasn’t just part of my routine.
She was my favorite part of it.
And that’s how it started.
Not with fireworks.
But with simple conversations, I slowly learned how to make my heart beat differently.
There was no courtship.
No dramatic confession under the rain.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPT8b2hZgrR
No grand gesture.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApM4Mlr74b
No countdown.
One night, in the middle of another ordinary conversation, something changed.
“You know… this feels different now.”
I don’t even remember who said it first.
But I remember the silence after.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNbfWU9LhU
The kind of silence that isn’t awkward, just heavy with truth.
We both knew.
We both felt it.
There was no need for long explanations because everything had already been said in the way we stayed up for each other… in the way we chose each other every day without announcing it.
“So… are we together now? ”
It sounded simple. Almost careless.
But my heart was anything but calm.
And just like that, we are together.
No courtship.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIRyGht241
No waiting game.177Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzL6t0HXlrs
No slow build-up.
Because sometimes, when you’ve talked to someone long enough, when you’ve already shared your fears, your weaknesses, and your real self at 2 a.m. What more is there to prove?
We didn’t need convincing.
We just needed courage.
And for a while, it felt perfect.
It felt easy.
It felt like we skipped the complicated part and went straight to being “us.”
Maybe that was the beauty of it.
Or maybe…
That was where we rushed.
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.