As We Dream Afar

They used to lie on a rooftop under the same endless sky, dreaming about leaving their small town together. They wrote their futures on a crumpled piece of paper - his skyscrapers that would touch the clouds, her stories that would carry people somewhere far - and hid it beneath a sheet of rusted metal.

"Ten years from now," they promised. "Same rooftop. Same sunset. No matter where life takes us."

Adrian was the boy who always knew exactly where he was going.
Elia was the girl who only knew she wanted to go somewhere - preferably with him. They grew up side by side. Shared secrets, summer nights, and silent almost-confessions.

She fell in love with her best friend in quiet, aching ways he never noticed.
He kept her close, called her "Lia," and told her not to change because what they had was already perfect.

Until the day they left Alora for Manila. Different dreams. Different roads.
Texts that grew shorter. Calls that went unanswered. Years that turned best friends into strangers who still liked each other's photos.

Ten years later, Elia returns to their rooftop as a published author, successful on paper but still carrying the same quiet longing in her chest.

She waits for the boy who once promised to come back with her.
For the friend who never saw how deeply she loved him.
For the chance to finally say the words she buried for a decade.

But growing up doesn't always mean growing together.
Sometimes it means chasing your dreams alone... while the person you loved most ends up dreaming miles apart.

As We Dream Afar
Some promises are kept.
Some are broken.

And some... are kept in the most devastating way possible.