THE LONG WAY HERE

Small-town romance / slow-burn / Jane x Kao.
Jane Methika is very good at three things: flowers, bad jokes, and pretending she is not still in love with Kao Supassara.

Since she was fifteen, Jane has been taking the long way home past Blue Heron Lodge, telling herself it was only about the lake road and definitely not about the older girl who kept noticing her too gently. Through school dances, yellow roses, winter lights, Diet Pepsi, almost-kisses, and years of leaving first, Kao becomes the one Jane never quite had-and never quite got over.
Now Jane is older, sharper, back in Alder Lake, and determined to survive the summer with her dignity intact.

Unfortunately, Kao is back too.
And this time, all those almosts are finally turning into something real.

Song inspiration:
The One That Got Away - missed timing and the one who got away
Death of a Bachelor - letting the guarded self fall in love for real
Diet Pepsi - sweet, sharp, summer-lit wanting

Note: Some episodes are over 10,000+ words