The Echoes of First Love

First love has a way of staying with you, even when you think it's long gone. It's not the kind of love that fades completely; it lingers in the background, a shadow that follows you no matter where you go. I've learned to live with it, to let it be part of who I am without letting it define me.

I'm happy now, truly. My life is full, my heart content. But sometimes, late at night, when the world is quiet and still, I think back to him. To us. To everything we were and everything we couldn't be.

And in those moments, I smile.