Riley Cristobal, a girl who always goes back and forth to the place where she really belong, to the place where she felt home. For years, she always goes back there once and lasted for only two months.
To go back to the place where she treated her safe haven means to unwind and to feel the freedom and peace of mind she wanted. To be in the place where she thought of as a sanctuary, is to escape in the chains holding her back for a long time.
Heimdal Acosta, a resident of Baguio who, at first, was hesitant to be friends with the girl she rarely see every year but because of his friend, Raven, who made way to be friends with her, they shared memories together.
To met this girl and get to know her is a new feeling for him. To feel the eagerness that he has to be by her side and the need to protect her is way different from what he usually felt. After a long time of being in the state of loneliness, he had felt the company that his heart has been longing for. But lack of experience, he has to dealt with series of indenial until the time he discovers it to himself.
Summer's done and they're back to their old lives. She goes back to her place to study and prove herself to not be in the career she doesn't want to. He continues being a student athlete but confused of what career he has to take, if he'll risk his happiness for the career he wanted to in contrary of his father's will. Time passed, unknowingly they have been longing for each other.
Will they ever find themselves in the right path, and be happy? Will fate bring them together every now and then? And how will they find themselves falling if they only met every cold summer nights.
Ella is falling apart trying to live a "perfect" high school life. Then she meets Ren, who can see past her scars. Suddenly perfection isn't her only option.
*****
Ella Volkov is a gifted music student, but she's depressed and starting to crack under the pressure of high school. Her overbearing father won't even let her choose what instrument she plays. Then she finds herself alone at a party with Ren, her best friend's crush. She'd always thought he was rude, but after that night he's all Ella can think about. Now she's trapped. If Ella dates Ren, it will ruin her friendship with Jenny. But if she stays true to Jenny, she's losing the one person who can see past her scars. It's up to Ella to decide if she will forge her own path, or stay in the "perfect" box designed for her...
Content and/or Trigger Warning: depression, anxiety, self-harm, violence, sexual assault.
[[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]