Summer kills

Her words were like a balm on his

aching heart, offering him a semblance of hope, a promise of a future he had never dared to envision before. He watched as her lips parted slightly, her breath hitching from the weight of their conversation. "I've missed us," she confessed, her voice shaking with emotion. "But we're not the same people we were years ago. We've changed...grown."

"And I think...that's not necessarily a bad thing," Ethan admitted, his gaze softening as he watched her. He squeezed her hand gently in response to her confession. "We've lived and learned. Maybe we can use what we've learned to...to make us. A new version of us."

Olivia's eyes welled up, and she quickly blinked away the tears. She smiled at him, though it was tremulous and uncertain. Despite that uncertainty, Ethan could see the spark in her eyes wasn't completely extinguished yet, and he found himself drawn to that spark like a moth to a flame

"Starting anew doesn't mean forgetting the past," she murmured, her voice thick with unshed tears. "It means acknowledging it, learning from it, and choosing to move forward anyway."

Ethan nodded, feeling a lump form in his own throat. "I think I can do that," he admitted. "If it's with you, Liv, I think I can do anything."

Their gazes held each other, their hands still intertwined across the table. The silence that filled the room now was not one of nervous anticipation, but of mutual understanding and shared resolve.

Slowly, Olivia released his hand and stood up from her chair. She circled around the table until she was standing next to Ethan. Gently, she took his face in her hands, her thumb softly tracing the stubble on his cheek. Ethan closed his eyes at her touch, relishing in the warmth of her palm against his skin.

When he opened them again, Olivia was looking at him with an intensity

that sent shivers down his spine. Her lips were parted slightly, her breath hitching in her throat as she searched his eyes.

"I think I can do that, too," she finally said, her voice a mere whisper on the lull of the humming city outside their window.

Ethan felt his heart thump loudly against his chest. He reached up to cover one of her hands with his own, the warmth from their skin contact making him forget the chill of the evening. He leaned into her touch, turning slightly to plant a soft kiss on her palm.

"Then let's do it," he said quietly, his voice steady despite the whirlwind of emotions threatening to undo him. "Let's start this journey together."

Olivia's eyes welled up again, but this time, she did not blink away the tears. They slipped down her cheeks softly, glinting in the soft light from the kitchen lamp. She nodded, a single jerky movement that sent another

tear spilling down her cheek. "Together," she echoed. Her voice was shaky, filled with so much emotion that Ethan felt his heart swell in response.

He stood up from the table, closing the space between them. Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks, looking into her eyes to find not only sadness but also hope and determination. He enveloped her in his arms, pulling her against his chest.

As Olivia rested her head on his shoulder, she felt a surge of comfort wash over her. This was familiar yet new at the same time. It was the kind of hug that said: 'I am here for you.' A kind of hug that they had not shared for a long time. They stood there wrapped in each other's arms, finding solace within the silence of their apartment and the soft hum of their city outside. The tension between them seemed to dissipate with each passing second as they shared this moment of vulnerability and understanding.

Ethan pulled back to

look at Olivia, his hands lingering on her upper arms. Their eyes met and, in that moment, any lingering doubts seemed to melt away, replaced by a shared sense of hope for their future together.

"I think... we're going to be okay," he said, his voice quiet but certain. "We have chance here, Liv. A real chance."

Olivia nodded, not trusting herself to speak. But through her tear-stained eyes, there was a glimmer of something that looked very much like hope and it was infectious. Ethan felt a warmth spreading within him, making him feel more alive than he had in years.

He leaned in towards her then, his hand rising up to cup her cheek. He brushed away the remaining tears with his thumb before leaning in to press a soft kiss on her forehead. The gesture echoed their past intimacy but promised so much more for their future.

Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, hugging him close as if afraid he would vanish if she

let go too soon. But he was there, solid and grounding, a beacon of reassurance in a sea of uncertainties. He held her just as tightly, offering silent promises through his touch that he was going nowhere.

For a while, they stayed locked in that embrace, drawing comfort from one another's presence. It felt surreal; like some beautifully tragic scene from an old romance movie that had somehow been granted the chance to rewrite its ending. Eventually, Olivia pulled back slightly, her gaze fixing on Ethan's with an intensity that took his breath away. "I think you're right," she confessed, her voice quivering with the vestiges of her earlier tears. "I think we can do this. Together." In that moment, the weight of their shared past seemed lighter somehow: still there and significant but not quite as overwhelming. The future was uncertain, but for the first time in a long time, uncertainty didn't seem quite so terrifying. "Are you scared?" Ethan asked softly....