The sea hadn't changed.
It still crashed against the rocky shore of Harborview with the same reckless rhythm, flinging foam into the wind like confetti. But Sarah? Sarah had changed. More than she wanted to admit.
She stood near the edge of the wedding venue's cliffside terrace, holding a glass of champagne she hadn't sipped. Her white dress—not bridal white, thank God—flowed like the tide around her ankles. The sun was golden and cruelly beautiful, just like this moment.
Then she heard it—his laugh.
That unmistakable sound.
She turned before she could talk herself out of it.
Jake.
Standing near the bar, a drink in hand, laughing with Ben and Clara like the last ten years hadn't happened. Like he hadn't vanished with a duffle bag and a note that said, "I need to figure things out."
God, he looked older. Broader shoulders. Faint lines near his eyes. But the same crooked smile. The same boy who kissed her behind the bleachers and promised her the moon.
Jake met her gaze.
And the world tilted.
---
"Sarah."
The sound of her name on his lips was like opening a box she'd sealed years ago and shoved to the back of her heart.
"Jake." She forced a polite smile. "Didn't think I'd see you here."
"I could say the same."
"I live in Boston now. Claudia's my college roommate—bride's side."
"Best man," he said, pointing to himself. "Ben and I kept in touch."
Of course he had. Jake had a way of staying in people's lives—just not hers.
A beat passed. Then another. She fiddled with the stem of her glass.
"How long's it been?" he asked softly.
"Eight years."
"Feels like yesterday."
"Feels like a different life."
Their eyes met again.
His softened. "Still the same eyes."
"And yours still know how to lie."
Jake flinched. "That's fair."
She turned to walk away.
He didn't stop her.
But he didn't look away either.
---
That night, the wedding reception sparkled under fairy lights.
Sarah sat at a table near the dance floor, picking at her dessert. Her fiancé, Daniel, hadn't made it. A last-minute business trip. Something about international clients and mergers. She hadn't fought it.
Across the floor, Jake danced with the flower girl, twirling her around until she shrieked with laughter. Sarah's lips twitched before she caught herself.
He'd always been good with kids.
"Mind if I steal this seat?"
Jake dropped beside her like it was the most natural thing in the world.
She arched a brow. "Don't you have best man duties?"
"Speech's done. Dance is danced. Cake's eaten. And I saw you sitting here… looking like you wanted to be anywhere else."
"I'm not running."
"No. But you're not dancing either."
Sarah glanced toward the DJ. A slow song hummed through the speakers. "Some of us don't dance with ghosts."
Jake's voice dropped. "I'm not a ghost, Sarah."
"Then why do you still haunt me?"
---
Jake extended his hand. "Dance with me."
Sarah stared at it like it was a live wire. "Why?"
"Because we never got that last dance."
She should've said no. Every part of her screamed to retreat. But her fingers betrayed her.
Their palms met.
He led her to the floor with ease, like muscle memory. Like nothing had fractured between them. Like the clock could spin backward.
The music swelled.
As they swayed, he murmured, "Do you ever think about us?"
"Jake—"
"I do. I think about us more than I should. About who we were. What we lost."
"We didn't lose it. You left it behind."
His hand gently tightened on her waist. "I was scared."
"You didn't get to be scared alone. I waited. For months. Then years."
"I know."
"Then why now?" Her voice broke. "Why come back when I've finally built something that doesn't hurt?"
He hesitated. "Because when I saw you tonight... it was like I could finally breathe again."
---
Later, in the quiet dark, Sarah stood outside by the ocean. The wedding had ended. Most guests had gone. Only a few drunk stragglers remained behind the glowing glass of the venue.
She heard his footsteps before he spoke.
"You always did like the ocean at night."
She didn't turn. "It doesn't judge."
Jake stood beside her. "Neither do I."
"That's not true." She exhaled slowly. "You judged yourself so harshly you couldn't let anyone love you through it."
"I was seventeen, Sarah."
"So was I."
Silence stretched between them, taut and aching.
Jake finally whispered, "I was afraid I wasn't enough. Not for your dreams. Not for mine. My dad was falling apart. My brother was getting arrested every other month. I couldn't breathe in that town. And I thought… if I stayed, I'd drown."
Sarah's throat tightened. "You left without saying goodbye."
"I didn't think you'd let me go."
"You were right."
The ocean crashed behind them. In its chaos, a fragile kind of peace.
"I never stopped loving you," he said.
She finally turned, her eyes gleaming.
"That's the problem."
---
The next morning came too soon.
Sarah sat in her hotel room, the engagement ring heavy on her finger. Daniel had called twice. She let it ring out both times.
Her phone buzzed again. This time, a text from Jake.
> Meet me. One hour. The pier.
She went.
The pier was quieter than she remembered. The boards groaned beneath her heels. Jake stood near the edge, looking out at the endless blue.
He turned as she approached, his eyes lighting up.
"You came."
"I'm not sure why."
"Maybe because you still care."
"Don't," she warned, heart pounding. "Don't make this harder."
He stepped closer. "Sarah, I'm not asking you to throw your life away. I'm asking for a conversation. One last chance to show you who I am now. Not the boy who ran. The man who came back."
She wanted to scream. To run. To kiss him.
Instead, she whispered, "I'm engaged."
"But not married."
She flinched.
He held her gaze. "Does he make you laugh like I do?"
"That's not fair."
"Does he make you feel like I do?"
Tears welled in her eyes. "He makes me feel safe."
Jake's voice cracked. "And I made you feel alive."
---
That afternoon, they walked through the old part of town. The bookstore they'd spent hours in was gone. So was the coffee shop with the crooked counter.
But the cliffs were still there. And so was the beach house.
Sarah's grandmother's house, now empty since she passed.
She unlocked the door with the spare key still hidden under the cracked ceramic frog.
Dust motes swirled in sunbeams. The smell was exactly the same—sea salt, old wood, and faint lavender.
They found the box in the attic.
Old photographs. Love notes. Jake's baseball cap. A pressed rose.
"God," he said softly, holding the rose. "You kept all this?"
"I couldn't throw it away. Even when I hated you."
Jake looked at her. "I never stopped being in love with you, Sarah. And I know this is selfish. But I'm here now. And I'm ready to fight for you."
She looked away. "You're eight years too late."
"Maybe." He reached for her hand. "But maybe… we were never ready before."
---
That night, she stood in the mirror of her hotel bathroom, holding the engagement ring in her palm.
Daniel had texted again.
> I miss you. Can't wait to marry you.
He was good. Steady. Reliable. Everything Jake wasn't.
But when she closed her eyes, it wasn't Daniel's voice she heard.
It was Jake's.
The door clicked behind her. Her reflection stared back, broken and unsure.
The next morning, she went to the beach.
Jake stood with a packed bag. "If you say no… I'll leave today."
Sarah walked slowly, carefully, like every step was made of glass.
"I don't know what the future holds," she said. "But I know this…"
Jake waited.
"…My heart never stopped waiting for you."
He dropped the bag. Took her face in his hands. "Sarah."
She kissed him.
And it was all the summers they lost. All the words they never said. All the dreams they buried.
It was pain and forgiveness and home.
---
They spent the rest of that week walking, talking, crying, healing. It wasn't perfect. It never would be.
But it was real.
Sarah called Daniel.
She didn't lie. She didn't hide.
And it hurt like hell.
But when she returned to the beach house and found Jake sitting on the porch, guitar in hand, singing the song he wrote for her when they were seventeen, she knew—
Some loves don't die.
They just wait to be reborn.
---
"Some stories aren't meant to end at goodbye—some just pause until the heart is ready to begin again… In the name of love."