Elise Morgan dropped her suitcase onto the creaky wooden floor of her childhood home. The house, now quieter than ever after the recent death of her father, held both warmth and sorrow in its walls. The nostalgia hit her like a wave, though not strong enough to drown out the overwhelming task ahead: clearing out her parents' belongings and officially moving back in.
As she walked through the familiar halls, her phone buzzed, a welcome distraction. It was her best friend, Sam. Funny, sarcastic, and always up for a laugh, Sam had been Elise’s rock through thick and thin. She put the call on speaker and set her phone on a nearby shelf as she unpacked.
"How’s the morgue—I mean, your old house?" Sam's voice rang through the room.
Elise chuckled. “Still looks like something out of an old horror movie, minus the murder plot. But thanks for that image.”
"Any ghosts of exes haunting you yet?" Sam teased.
"Not yet," Elise replied, glancing around at the faded family photos. "But there’s still time. I swear if I find an old love letter from Nate in one of these boxes, I’m going to lose it."
“Oh my god, Nate Hayes! How could I forget about him?” Sam exclaimed, her voice exaggerated with mock excitement. "That bad boy you were so obsessed with in high school."
Elise laughed, rifling through some old papers. “He wasn’t a bad boy. Just misunderstood.”
"Yeah, misunderstood and moody, the ultimate teen crush combo," Sam quipped. "Didn’t he have, like, a motorcycle or something? That’s hot."
“I’m pretty sure it was a beat-up bike, not some Harley,” Elise corrected, though she couldn’t help but smile. "But yeah, he had the whole brooding, deep-thinker vibe going on. He was always so serious about life."
“Serious? Please, the guy looked like he was auditioning for a grunge band. Remember when he tried to write poetry? We all had to pretend he was deep instead of depressing.”
“Hey, his poetry wasn’t that bad,” Elise defended with a smirk, “I thought it was… intense.”
Sam snorted. "You thought wearing all black and quoting philosophy was intense. Meanwhile, I was over here wearing neon scrunchies and jamming to bubblegum pop."
Elise sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, now surrounded by half-open boxes and old memories. "I wonder what he’s up to now."
There was a pause on the other end before Sam said, "And here it is. Cue the moment of reflection. I knew this was coming."
“No, seriously,” Elise insisted, “I haven’t thought about Nate in years, and now… I don’t know. Seeing these old photos just makes me think of how much I’ve changed. Like, what if I stayed? What if I hadn’t taken that job in the city? It feels like I ran away from everything.”
“Okay, slow down, existential crisis girl. You’re only 30. You didn’t run away; you were chasing your dreams. The corporate ladder and all that. And it’s not like you would’ve stayed stuck in this tiny town forever.”
"Maybe. But look at me now." Elise glanced around the room, her heart heavy. "I’ve quit my job, moved back here to sort out my dad’s things, and now I have no idea what’s next. I’m thirty, single, and unemployed. I had a whole life in the city, Sam. But now? It just feels like I’m back where I started."
Sam’s tone softened. “You had your reasons, Elise. And it’s okay to take a break from that grind. You know I’m always here for you."
Elise leaned back on the bed, eyes staring up at the ceiling, which still had the glow-in-the-dark stars she stuck up there as a teenager. "I wish I could just figure out what I want, though. I feel like I made all these choices, but none of them were really for me, you know?"
YOU ARE READING
If We Fall Again
Romance30-year old Elise is back in her old hometown. Her father just died and she's trying to navigate her new life between arranging her father's stuff, getting a new job and meeting her ex high school boyfriend. Elise Morgan is here and she may fall ag...
