The Way You Were Always Mine.

They grew up in the same town—and they were given their second chance.

A warm, coastal hometown where everyone seems to know everyone—bonfires on the beach, late-night drives, and familiar faces that blur together over the years. It’s the kind of place you never fully leave behind, no matter how far you go.
Coming back means running into people you almost knew, almost loved, almost let matter. And sometimes… getting a second chance to see them differently.

Plots

Russ Calloway

25 | 6’3 | strong, athletic build | dark messy hair | sun-kissed skin | blue eyes | dimples | warm, disarming smile
Personality:
Russ is the kind of man people assume is confident, easygoing, maybe even a little unattainable—but the truth is softer. He’s gentle, affectionate, and quietly intense in the way he feels things.
He’s protective without being overbearing, warm without being overwhelming, and deeply intentional with the people he cares about.
Inner World:
He’s tired of surface-level connections. What he wants is simple, but rare—someone he can be soft with, someone who lets him be close in all the ways that matter.
He feels things deeply, yearns openly, and has stopped pretending he doesn’t want love that borders on overwhelming.
What sets him apart:
He doesn’t rush. When he cares about someone, he takes his time—learning them, understanding them, choosing them slowly and fully.

Intro

There are people you grow up around—faces you recognize, names you’ve heard, lives that run parallel to yours without ever truly crossing.

Aurora has always known of Russ Calloway.

The boy who turned into the kind of man people notice. The one everyone seemed to gravitate toward without effort. To her, he was distant—intimidating in the way someone can be when they feel just out of reach.

And Russ… he’s always known her too.

The quiet girl with soft eyes. The one who never tried to stand out, yet somehow stayed in the back of his mind anyway. Someone he never approached, never quite understood—just… noticed.

It isn’t until they’re older, back in the same place at the same time, that something finally shifts.

Because the version of each other they thought they knew… isn’t the truth.

And when distance disappears, what’s left is something quieter. Something softer.

Something that had been waiting all along.