I never thought I would fall in love this summer, especially not with another guy.
Theo boards a plane with his parents for a family vacation he's not excited about.
Without a summer job and facing two dreary weeks in Torrevieja, life feels bleak...
Theo adjusted the sunglasses on his nose and leaned in with interest over the handwritten lines that stretched across the pages of his book. The density of words and Ulrik's energetic handwriting filled his notebook!
The quiet moments allowed him to fully immerse himself in every word he had written on the paper. It was only Ulrik's voice that resonated—silent yet profound—between each line, each comma, and each period. In this moment, there was no one else but the two of them, and the words that bound them together were:
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He sank into the lounger, his heart beating a gentle rhythm as he acknowledged his emotions. His thoughts swirled chaotically. A warm rush of joy spread across his face, and a smile widened significantly.
Even his eyes glistened, and a few tears slipped down his sunkissed cheeks. There was no sadness in these saltwater pearls, only pure, unfiltered gratitude and restrained hope.
He allowed Ulrik's words to resonate within him by reading them repeatedly. "This must mean something," he whispered, a heartfelt affirmation to himself more than to anyone else.
He swiftly flipped through the book to check for any nonsense written by Ulrik, and he soon discovered it.
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Theo reached out with a slightly trembling hand toward the phone resting on the arm of the sun lounger. The sun's reflections glimmered on the screen as he swiped it awake and accessed the contact list—a new name was about to take its rightful place.
"Ulrik" was typed with careful respect, as if Theo could offend the memories of the flight simply by being careless. With great determination, he pressed the correct numbers on the screen—a number representing new opportunities.
He stared at the phone, his pulse pounding in sync with the seconds that stretched out like centuries.
"It's just a message," he whispered.
He had to remind himself to breathe as his fingers glided over the keyboard.
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