The next few weeks passed in a whirlwind. Life had a way of pulling me in a hundred different directions—exams, work, friends—and while Martinus and I kept in touch, it was mostly through short texts and the occasional late-night phone call. The distance still lingered, but every time we talked, he reassured me that we were going to make it work.
I clung to that hope, but deep down, I was still anxious. There were moments when the silence between our messages felt heavier than it should, and as much as I tried not to let it get to me, it was hard not to wonder if things were slowly slipping through my fingers.
One Friday afternoon, after an exhausting week of exams, I decided to unwind by spending the evening with Nora and Emma. We hadn’t had a proper girls' night since the cabin trip, and I was eager to relax and forget about everything for a while.
Nora was already at my apartment when I got home, lounging on the couch with Emma, a bottle of wine on the coffee table between them.
"Finally!" Emma exclaimed when I walked in. "We’ve been waiting forever. I’m about to open this without you!"
I laughed, tossing my bag onto a chair and kicking off my shoes. "Sorry, I had to survive the worst exam of my life. But now I’m ready for wine. Lots of it."
Nora raised an eyebrow. "Rough week?"
"You have no idea," I sighed, collapsing onto the couch beside them. "I just want to forget about school, work, and everything else for a few hours."
Emma handed me a glass of wine, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Well, you’re in the right place. Tonight, we’re not talking about anything stressful. Just fun."
I smiled, grateful for the distraction. As we sipped our wine and caught up on the latest gossip, I felt the tension slowly start to melt away. For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to relax, to enjoy the moment without worrying about what tomorrow might bring.
---
A couple of hours later, we were deep into conversation when Nora suddenly looked at me with a curious glint in her eyes.
"So," she began, her tone casual but clearly leading somewhere, "when was the last time you saw Martinus?"
I blinked, the question catching me off guard. "Um, the cabin, I guess. It’s been hard to find time with everything going on."
Emma, who had been listening quietly, piped up. "You guys still good, though, right?"
I hesitated, taking a sip of my wine to buy myself a second to think. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, we’ve been talking when we can, but… it’s hard. The distance makes everything feel a little more complicated."
Nora gave me a sympathetic look. "Long-distance sucks, but you guys seemed pretty solid. I’m sure you’ll figure it out."
I nodded, appreciating their support. "Yeah, I hope so. He keeps saying we’ll see each other soon, but we haven’t really made any plans yet."
Emma grinned, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Well, maybe you won’t have to wait much longer."
I frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"
Nora exchanged a knowing glance with Emma, and before I could press them further, my phone buzzed on the coffee table. I picked it up, expecting a random notification, but when I saw the name on the screen, my heart skipped a beat.
Martinus: I’m outside.
"What?" I said aloud, my mind spinning as I stared at the message.
Emma giggled, clearly in on whatever was happening. "Go look."
Still in disbelief, I got up and headed to the front door, my heart racing. I opened it slowly, not sure what to expect—and there, standing on the doorstep with a sheepish grin on his face, was Martinus.
"Surprise," he said, his voice warm and familiar.
For a second, I just stood there, completely frozen. My brain was struggling to catch up with the fact that he was actually here, standing in front of me, when just moments ago I’d been thinking about how far apart we were.
"Martinus?" I finally managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper.
He chuckled, stepping forward. "In the flesh."
Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest. He hugged me tightly, and in that moment, all the distance, all the worry, melted away. He was here. He was real. And suddenly, everything felt right again.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, pulling back slightly to look up at him.
"I missed you," he said simply, his hand brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "And I figured we’ve had enough of this long-distance thing for a while. So, I talked to Marcus and Emma, and we planned this little surprise."
I glanced over my shoulder at Emma, who was now standing in the doorway with Nora, both of them grinning like they’d just pulled off the best prank of the century.
"You two knew about this?" I asked, half laughing, half in disbelief.
Nora shrugged, her smile widening. "We might’ve had something to do with it."
I shook my head, turning back to Martinus, unable to stop the grin from spreading across my face. "I can’t believe you’re here."
"Believe it," he said, pulling me close again. "Because I’m not going anywhere for a while."
---
That night, the four of us spent hours talking, laughing, and catching up like no time had passed at all. Martinus’s presence was like a balm to my worried heart, reminding me that even though we’d been apart, what we had was still strong.
At some point, as the evening wound down and Nora and Emma retreated to their rooms, Martinus and I found ourselves alone in the living room, the quiet settling over us like a blanket.
We sat together on the couch, his arm draped over my shoulders as I leaned into him, my head resting against his chest. The warmth of his body, the steady rhythm of his breathing, made everything else fade away.
"I can’t believe you came all this way just to see me," I said softly.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "You’re worth the trip."
I smiled, feeling a familiar warmth bloom in my chest. "I was starting to get scared, you know. That we were… drifting apart."
Martinus shifted slightly so he could look down at me, his expression serious. "I’ve felt it too, but I didn’t want to let it get in the way. That’s why I’m here, Y/N. I don’t want the distance to define us. I want to make this work, no matter what."
Hearing those words was like a weight lifting off my shoulders. I’d been so worried that the distance would slowly pull us apart, but now, with him here, I realized that we were stronger than I gave us credit for.
"I want to make it work too," I said, my voice filled with certainty. "And I think we will."
He smiled, leaning down to kiss me softly. "We will. I’m sure of it."
As we sat there in the quiet, holding each other close, I knew that this wasn’t just a fleeting thing. Martinus was here, with me, because we were both willing to fight for what we had. And in that moment, I realized that no amount of distance could ever change that.
This was real. We were real. And together, we could face whatever came next.
