The summer air carried a familiar warmth as the town settled into another quiet afternoon. Four years had passed since Ellie boarded a plane for boarding school, leaving behind the people and places she'd grown up with. What had started as a tearful goodbye eventually became a routine of late-night phone calls, handwritten letters tucked between textbooks, surprise care packages, and countless promises that the distance would only be temporary. Against the odds, her relationship with Chris Sturniolo had survived every mile between them. Over the years, both of them had changed. Chris had turned eighteen just a few months earlier and, with his growing career, had moved into a new house. Ellie had spent the last four years focused on school, finally graduating at seventeen. Through everything, they held onto the idea that once she came home, they could finally stop counting down the days until the next visit. Neither of them expected the reunion to happen like this. Without telling Chris she was back, Ellie decided to surprise him. After hours of traveling, she stood at the end of his driveway with her luggage still in the car, her heart pounding from equal parts excitement and nerves. She had imagined this moment a thousand different ways—him pulling her into a hug, laughing in disbelief, maybe even lifting her off the ground after four years apart. Taking one final breath, she walked up the stone pathway leading to the front porch and knocked. Footsteps echoed from inside the house. The front door swung open. Chris stood frozen in the doorway. His usually relaxed expression vanished almost instantly, replaced with unmistakable shock. His eyes widened as they locked onto the person standing on his front step, as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "...Ellie?" His voice barely came out above a whisper. Before either of them could say another word, movement caught his attention from somewhere deeper inside the house. A young woman stepped into view from the hallway behind him, dressed casually and holding two drinks. She slowed to a stop the moment she noticed someone standing at the door. Her eyes flicked between Chris and Ellie, the silence stretching longer with every passing second. Chris didn't move. Neither did the girl. The excitement that had filled the front porch only moments before was replaced by an uneasy silence, broken only by the faint sound of traffic in the distance. No one spoke first.