Routine was Lena’s anchor. Every morning, she walked the same streets, passed the same bakery with its windows fogged from heat, and boarded the same bus that carried her across the river. The predictability soothed her, kept the world small and manageable. She didn’t want surprises, not after the last time life had caught her off guard.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERMAeeiYxS
That morning felt no different- until it was. She slid into her usual seat by the window and froze. A man had already taken the spot across the aisle, his head bowed as though asleep. She didn’t need him to look up to know who he was. Even after six years, even after all her efforts to bury the past, Lena recognized the curve of his shoulders, the restless flex of his hand against his knee.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDwomwDjFe
Ethan.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUIBOWIxvM
Her chest tightened. The last time she had seen him was the night he left without explanation, leaving only a single sentence scrawled on a scrap of notebook paper: I can’t be who you need me to be. That note had haunted her more than the silence that followed. For years she told herself she was fine, that she had moved on. And yet here he was, as if summoned from some hidden corner of memory.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnfh5TJRBX
Before she could stop herself, his name slipped out. “Ethan?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlPmGKUnEC
His head lifted. His eyes- those same dark eyes that once made the world feel alive- widened in recognition. “Lena?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCxTeQ6noa
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved. The bus jolted forward, throwing them slightly together. Her pulse hammered.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhDvcPTKnV
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” she said, her voice sharper than intended.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFjW199MaF
“I didn’t think I should,” he replied quietly.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1vvUwxN8W
She wanted to look away, to retreat into the safety of her routine, but the words she had buried for years pressed against her ribs. “Why did you leave? Without a word, without- without anything?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2uPowWlVL
He swallowed, jaw tight. “Because I was scared. I thought I’d ruin you if I stayed.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENdlJvaJDJ
She let out a bitter laugh. “You ruined me by leaving.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtP1PNodo8
The bus rattled across the bridge, and for a long moment all she heard was the low roar of traffic below. Her hands trembled in her lap. She should have ended the conversation there, should have shut the door on the past again. But another part of her- the reckless part that still remembered the warmth of his hand in hers- leaned forward.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsTrnyIIaG
“What if I told you I never stopped wondering?” she asked.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjIHkYIiir
Ethan met her gaze, and something unspoken passed between them. Regret. Longing. The weight of years they had both tried to deny.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwKlZUrWwo
“I wondered too,” he admitted. “Every day.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiJHkYFCos
The bus slowed near her stop. Lena felt the familiar pull of habit telling her to get off, to walk the last few blocks, to let this moment dissolve into nothing but memory. But her feet stayed planted.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9mJKmqvsp
Ethan shifted, uncertainty flickering across his face. “I’m not asking for forgiveness. I just- I wanted you to know I never forgot.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvG33PLLxob
The announcement for the next stop crackled over the speaker. Her window of decision shrank.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH437oHIhtW
Finally, Lena stood. His shoulders dropped, and the hurt flashed across his face, the same hurt she had carried for years. But then, instead of leaving, she extended her hand.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjR6L9f7cE5
“Come with me,” she said.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8EXT6Sa2L
For a second, he looked stunned. Then his lips curved into the smallest, most fragile smile she had ever seen. He rose and took her hand, warm and steady.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGUF69QSWC
The bus doors hissed open, and together they stepped into the sunlight- two people who had lived with unfinished sentences, finally daring to write the rest.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjP9fMaXrg
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemX7wDo8ET
and then Add to home screen.