Chapter 1
It started with coffee. Not the cinematic kind where two strangers collide in slow motion and fate hums in the background- no, theirs was messier. Emily spilled hers. Right down the form of Noah’s shirt.
He was supposed to be angry, but he laughed instead. That kind of laugh that shook from his chest, the kind that made people look up from their phones just to smile with him. Emily apologized three times, tried to hand him napkins and ended up knocking his coffee right out of his hands. Embarrassed she swore to buy him a new one. He said, “only if you throw in dinner, too”
And just like that, something began.
In the months that followed, their love grew in the small spaces between ordinary life-burnt pancakes on Sunday mornings, rainy drives with windows cracked open, whispered I love yous in parking lots when neither wanted to say goodbye. Emily always said Noah felt like home. Not a place, but a heartbeat she could rest against.
He was the steady one. The calm to her chaos. When her emotions stormed, he was the hand that reached through it. When he laughed, she swore the air shifted around them.
They dreamed big together-tiny house on the edge of a lake, two dogs, maybe a baby if the universe was kind. They were saving for a fixer-upper, though they joked they didnt need four walls to feel complete. Their love had already built something stronger.
On their third anniversary, Noah surprised her with a ring. Not another wedding ring-they were already married but a silver band engraved with “again, always.” when she asked what it meant, he smiled that crooked smile and said “because I’d choose you again, in every lifetime,”
They were that kind of couple. The ones who made you believe in forever.
If only forever had lasted longer.
Because 6 months later, on an unassuming Tuesday, the world reminded Emily that love doesn't always protect you from fate. It can only hold your hand when it hits
