Chapter 16 – What We Choose to Keep

The snow hadn't melted, but the world felt warmer somehow.

Liam and Maya spent the next few days in that strange space where everything was new and familiar at once. Like trying on a sweater you'd worn a thousand times but realizing it fit differently now.

They didn't rush.

He made her coffee the way she liked it—still with too much sugar.

She made him laugh when he needed it most.

There were still silences between them. But they were softer now. Comfortable. Honest.

And slowly, they began filling in the blank pages of their new story.

One night, they sat in Liam's truck parked at the overlook where they used to sneak off in high school.

The stars were sharp against the night sky, and their breath fogged up the windows.

"I almost didn't come back," Maya said quietly.

Liam looked over. "I know."

"I was scared it would feel like settling."

"And now?"

She smiled. "Now it feels like building."

He reached over and laced his fingers with hers. "We don't have to rush anything."

"I don't want to rush. I just want it to be real this time."

"It already is."

Maya didn't move back in with her parents.

Instead, she rented a small studio apartment downtown. It was drafty, smelled like old books, and had perfect lighting for painting.

She started taking on commissions from people in town—portraits, pet paintings, a mural for the coffee shop. She even agreed to teach an art class at the community center once a week.

It wasn't Florence.

But it was hers.

And she finally realized she didn't have to give up the world she discovered abroad to make room for the world she came from.

She just had to make them meet.

Liam brought over dinner one night—takeout from the Thai place Maya liked. They sat on the floor of her apartment surrounded by canvases and half-squeezed tubes of paint.

"So, I was thinking," he said, dipping a spring roll in sauce, "about maybe applying to that management program in the city."

Maya's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah. I want more. Not just for us—though that's part of it. For me."

She reached over and cupped his face. "That's all I've ever wanted. For both of us."

He grinned. "Also, I figured I'd earn some points before I ask you a big question."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out… a key.

"Want to leave a toothbrush at my place?"

She laughed, took the key, and kissed him.

"You're lucky you're cute."

They didn't talk about forever—not yet.

But they talked about next week. About summer plans. About maybe going back to Italy together someday.

And that was enough.

Because love wasn't about having all the answers.

It was about choosing each other anyway.

One evening, Maya opened the drawer of her old desk and pulled out the notebook titled Things I Hope You Still Know.

She handed it to Liam without saying a word.

He read every page, slowly, like he was memorizing them.

When he finished, he looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

"You kept all of this?"

"I didn't know if I'd ever send it. But I always meant it."

He leaned forward and whispered, "So let's write the next one together."