Somewhere Between Healing & Loving

Seventeen-year-old Nyla Carter used to love easily.

Then she met Amari.

Six months. That's all it took for everything to change. Lies, cheating, apologies she kept believing-until love stopped feeling like love at all.

She cheated. Lied. Apologized. Repeated it.

And every time Nyla took her back, the feelings faded a little more.

Not loudly. Not all at once.

Just... quietly.

Until she stayed for a version of love that didn't exist anymore.

When it ended, it broke something in her she didn't know how to fix.

Therapy helped her survive it-not erase it.

Now it's summer again.

And Nyla wants different. New people. New distractions. A new version of herself.

So she goes back to the app she used to laugh on with her best friend every summer. She talks to boys. Lots of them. None of it serious.

Until 3:07 a.m.

That's when she meets Kairo.

He's not loud. Not pushy. Just... present. And for the first time in a long time, Nyla feels seen instead of used.

But healing isn't simple.

And as feelings grow, so does her fear of repeating the same pattern-

loving someone... and slowly losing herself again.