The station was nearly empty, the soft hum of distant conversations blending with the rhythmic sound of the departure board flipping through the night’s final trains. The air smelled of rain and pavement, and the overhead lights flickered just enough to make the moment feel like something out of a dream.
Elena sat on the cold metal bench, pulling her coat tighter around herself as she watched the train schedule.
Her train would be here in twenty minutes.
And then, she would be gone.
She had told herself she wouldn’t wait. That she had done enough waiting. That if he wanted to find her, he would.
But still, she waited.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she heard the familiar footsteps—quick, determined, just slightly uneven, as if he had run the whole way.
“Elena.”
She closed her eyes for a second before turning. And there he was.
Liam.
His hair was damp from the rain, his chest rising and falling like he had just sprinted through the entire city. He looked at her the way he always had—like she was the beginning and end of every story he had ever known.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” she said softly.
“I almost wasn’t,” he admitted. “Not because I didn’t want to. But because I was afraid of what I’d say when I got here.”
Elena swallowed, her heart pounding against her ribs. “And what do you want to say?”
Liam ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath that sounded like it had been waiting to escape for years.
“That I messed up.” His voice was raw, edged with something that made her chest tighten. “That I should have told you how I felt before you decided to leave. That every time I thought about what life would be like without you, it didn’t make sense.”
Elena clenched her hands in her lap. “You never gave me a reason to stay, Liam.”
“I know,” he whispered. “But I’m asking for one more chance to be that reason.”
The station clock ticked above them. Ten minutes.
Elena looked away, staring at the empty platform. “And what if it’s too late?”
Liam stepped closer, his voice almost pleading. “Then I’ll wait for the next train. And the next one after that. I’ll wait as long as it takes, Elena. But I won’t let you leave without knowing that you’re the only thing I’ve ever been sure of.”
Her breath hitched.
Five minutes.
The station speakers crackled, announcing her train’s arrival. The headlights of the locomotive glowed in the distance, the rails vibrating beneath her feet.
She could leave. She could walk away.
Or she could stay.
Slowly, she turned back to Liam, searching his face for something—fear, doubt, hesitation. But there was none.
There was only him, looking at her like she was home.
Elena exhaled, something inside her unraveling. “One chance?” she whispered.
Liam’s lips curved into the smallest, most hopeful smile. “One is all I need.”
The train slowed to a stop. The doors opened.
And Elena didn’t move.
She let the train leave without her, the air rushing past as it disappeared into the night.
When she finally looked back at Liam, his smile had widened, but his eyes were shining.
“You stayed,” he murmured, almost in disbelief.
Elena stepped forward, closing the space between them.
“Take me home,” she whispered.
Liam let out a shaky laugh, reaching for her hand. “Always.”
And as the last train disappeared into the horizon, the only journey that mattered was the one they were about to take together.
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