Chapter 1
The Beginning We Never Questioned
I thought we had time.
Time to fix things.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6ErgIkycX
Time to grow.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbSCxv13Hs
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw2pgU5GVw
No dramatic eye contact across a café.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtZHXmfbd0
No universe-shifting background music.
I met her in a quiet corner of the internet.
A glowing screen.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3woqDmL1b
A simple notification.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdJuAwwWcF
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNKC5ZHTnA
Random jokes.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJQ2WZxBML
Memes.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRbUZpCwIW
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLGpjO2KpK
Her fears.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoESrGT8SP
Her dreams she didn’t tell everyone about.
I learned the way she types when she’s happy.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsACBPkHhI
The way her replies get shorter when she’s overthinking.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1U215fyhM
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? ”179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70tgKPP24E
“Nothing. You? ”179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDLxD2nJ6y
“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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyJZrGFatq
When I had a bad day.
And then I noticed something.
I started waiting.
Waiting for her reply.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiV5tiVM8a
Waiting for her name to light up my screen.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDecoaQIxi6
Waiting for that tiny notification sound like it meant more than it should.
The talks became longer.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNZ7oNOcM9
The jokes became softer.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xG1wHiYDF
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQaavi8wez
The “have you eaten? ” felt like someone genuinely cared.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqe8zO6Nxv
The teasing turned into butterflies.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGoQvvDbVK
The butterflies turned into comfort.
And comfort… turned into attachment.
I didn’t notice the exact moment I fell.
There was no countdown.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaeX5msRMX
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoamGsfSf0
No grand gesture.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1IqTcuwfN
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgivvxy1rL3
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.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSfRIkiv3B
No waiting game.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8lI0jYo38
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.