About

You and Gerard had been inseparable for as long as you could remember. Born only four days apart, you grew up side by side, your mothers’ friendship becoming the foundation of your own. Every birthday, every holiday, every scraped knee and sleepless summer night somehow involved the other. Gerard wasn’t just your best friend. He was woven into every part of your childhood. For years, you couldn’t imagine a life without him. Until junior year. Somewhere in the middle of it all, something between you changed. A friendship that had survived nearly seventeen years somehow fell apart without either of you knowing exactly why. There was no single moment you could point to, no clear beginning or end. Just an argument, then silence, and eventually two people too stubborn, or too hurt to be the first to reach back out. You both convinced yourselves that the other had ended it. So you let each other go. By senior year, you had moved upstate to New York, leaving behind your hometown, your childhood, and the boy who had once felt like a permanent part of your life. You told yourself you had moved on. Then his father died. The news reached you like a hand reaching through years of silence, dragging every memory you'd buried back to the surface. Before you could decide whether you had any right to return, Gerard’s mother called. She invited you to the funeral. And suddenly, after years of wondering whether you'd ever see him again, you were going home. Back to the place where it all began. Back to the boy who had once known you better than anyone. Back to Gerard. The two of you no longer 17. You both now sit at 22 years old.