The doorbell rang again at Austin's. By now, Devin no longer expected it to be the mail.
"Devin!"
Sam's loud voice echoed from outside. "Devin Austin!"
Devin threw his head back and groaned. "You fool."
He shoved himself off the couch, his feet heavy, and swung the front door open. Sam was standing on the porch, immediately throwing him a signal—It's time.
"So, what's the plan?" Devin asked.
"What about you bring me to that glass house of yours? Sounds like a plan," Sam replied.
"Well, we better start walking now," Devin said.
"Walk? Bruh!"
"Yeah, cause we'll just be swimming, right?"
"Fine. But let me ride on your back."
***
A block away, beneath the sprawling shade of an old oak tree, the old sky-blue Volkswagen Beetle sat idling. Inside, the air-conditioning hummed—though the worn system barely kept up with the South Carolina heat—and a thin layer of sweat coated Allison's palms.
Allison and Anna tracked the house through the windshield, their attention anchored to the gate.
"What if he recognizes me, Anna?"
Anna scoffed, waving a hand dismissively. "Relax, Ali. You're acting like he's going to recognize the eleven-year-old girl who used to shadow him." Her lips curved into a teasing smile. "Trust me, you've changed. You're beautiful and sophisticated now."
Anna pressed closer to the glass. "Wait..."
The gate opened. A young man stepped out into the heat.
Anna squinted, leaning into the dashboard. "That's Sam, right? The best friend? Hmm... I think I like the view already."
Allison rolled her eyes, her stomach doing a nervous flip.
"You what?"
"What? I'm just appreciating the scenery."
Then—
The world narrowed until the car felt like a vacuum.
The air inside turned to lead in Allison's lungs, every breath a conscious effort. Another figure followed Sam out, stepping into the harsh afternoon light.
He was taller than the boy in her memories. Broader, too. The soft edges of his youth were gone, replaced by a solid, unfamiliar weight that made her chest pull tight. But it was his hair that really did it. That same sun-bleached, sandy blonde she'd spent a lifetime trying to forget. The breeze caught it in a careless wave, tossing it over his forehead exactly the way it used to.
He narrowed his eyes against the glare, his expression tight and closed off to the world. But when Sam nudged him, he laughed. A careless, brilliant grin caught the sunlight, rearranging the hard lines of his face into the exact same boy who had always been her undoing.
He was right there, just a few yards of pavement away, yet he looked at the world like he owned it, completely unaware that her entire universe had just collided with his.
Devin.
The letters hadn't prepared her for the physical reality of him.
Folded confessions and silent margins were a safe place to hide; they couldn't capture the ruinous, breathing heat of the man standing in front of her.
"Anna..." Allison's voice faltered, barely a breath against the glass. "That's him."
Anna stiffened, her knuckles whitening as she gripped the wheel. "Okay. Game on."
The engine hummed to life.
"Follow them," Allison said, her attention anchored to the two figures walking away.
Anna trailed them at a distance, keeping the Beetle a safe two blocks behind as Sam and Devin walked toward the coast.
"They're heading somewhere along the shore," Allison noted, her heart beginning a slow, heavy thud against her ribs.
Anna flashed a grin, the tension not reaching her the way it did Allison. "Perfect. Better lighting for the big reunion." She dropped her voice into a dramatic stage-whisper.
Despite the knots in her stomach, Allison let out a shaky laugh. "Anna, kill the music. I can't—I can't think while we're stalking him."
Anna turned the dial down with a theatrical groan. "You're overthinking. You've been counting down the days for years, Ali."
"I know," Allison admitted, her voice dropping to a soft murmur. "But now that we're actually here... I feel like a creep."
Anna thumped her forehead. "Remind me whose idea this was again?"
Allison swallowed hard.
"Maybe we should go back."
Allison's voice was barely a thread over the hum of the AC. She stared through the windshield, her knuckles white against the door handle. "We haven't even stepped out, and I already feel like I'm breaking a thousand unspoken rules."
Anna didn't answer immediately. She dropped her forehead against the leather-wrapped steering wheel and let out a long, suffering groan that echoed in the small car.
"It was your plan, Ali. Your 'Mission: Mystery Girl,' remember?" Anna sat up straight, eyes bright with adrenaline. "We are not turning around. You crossed an ocean for this—don't tell me you're satisfied with staring at the back of his head." A teasing smile played on her lips. "Besides, the 'tourist' act? It's going to be fun."
Allison looked down, her fingers obsessively twisting the hem of her shirt until the fabric was wrinkled. "I feel like I'm tricking him."
Anna didn't argue. She simply shifted the car into gear and pulled into the lot. She knew Allison; sometimes the only way to make her jump was to give her a shove.
The boardwalk hadn't changed, but the air felt heavier. Six years had weathered the wood and shifted the dunes, but the smell—that sharp, stinging mix of salt and sun-baked coconut oil—hit Allison like a physical blow. Memories rushed back so fast her vision blurred.
"It looks... different," Allison murmured, her heart beginning a frantic rhythm against her ribs. "We used to play over there. A little farther."
A few meters away, the world narrowed to a single point.
Devin was sitting on the sand, his gaze fixed on the horizon as if waiting for the ocean to apologize for something. Beside him, Sam looked like a man who had heard the same story a hundred times.
"Bro, I thought we were heading to the glass house," Sam sighed, leaning back on his elbows. "You changed your mind again? Are you saving your energy for the day your pen pal finally shows up?"
Devin didn't move. The silence around him felt heavy, like an invisible wall.
"Come on," Sam pushed, nudging him with a foot. "Let's hit the water instead. Maybe you'll find a mermaid who'll kiss you and erase her from your memory."
Devin let out a short, dry laugh that didn't reach his eyes. "What am I, Prince Eric?" His smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. "If we go there, I'll just miss her more, Sam. It's constant."
Sam exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "But—" He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly glued to two young women walking toward the shore. "Well, never mind. I guess it's destiny we stopped right here."
"Destiny?" Devin turned around and saw Allison and Anna making their way forward. For a moment, he went completely still.
"Promise me," Allison whispered, her heart hammering a frantic code against her chest. "We keep the act up. Don't look at him too long. Don't laugh. Don't ruin this."
Anna adjusted her sunglasses with a grin that was anything but relaxed. "Come on, you're just more suspicious than me."
They stepped onto the hot sand. Allison kept her eyes glued to her toes, playing the part of the distracted visitor, but she could feel him. It was a physical pull, like the tide reaching for her ankles.
Sam couldn't stop staring at them. Devin woke to the moment and stood.
"This day's a waste if we just sit here," he muttered.
And then—he pulled his shirt over his head.
The air left Allison's lungs. The boy from the letters—the soft-edged, familiar boy she'd memorized—was gone. In his place stood someone forged by six years of growing up. He was broader, stronger, real. The sunlight traced the new, hard lines of his shoulders and the hollow of his throat.
Suddenly, the heat was too much. Allison's skin felt flash-frozen.
"Anna..." she whispered, shielding her eyes with a shaking hand. "The sun... it's hurting my eyes."
Anna followed her gaze, her eyebrows shooting up behind her lenses. She let out a low, appreciative whistle. "So the eggshell finally cracked," she teased. "I was starting to think I'd be babysitting all summer."
Allison swallowed hard. Her cheeks were burning, and it wasn't the sun. "No—I feel like I'm having a fever."
Allison tried to focus on her book, but her eyes kept drifting. Devin moved through the surf, the waves breaking against him. When he emerged, droplets clung to his skin, catching the light like diamonds. He didn't look like a memory anymore. He looked—
"Hot," Allison muttered under her breath, dropping her head into her hands.
"Yeah. He's a problem," Anna whispered, leaning closer. But her attention had already shifted. She was looking at Sam, her expression turning sharp and predatory. "But the one on the left? I think he'll look even better once I break him in."
Allison snapped her head up.
"What?"