The office was quieter than usual the next day, with Victor away on some personal errands and the usual hustle of meetings taking a break. Elena sat at her desk, her mind not on the stack of papers she was supposed to review, but rather on the meeting with Luca the previous day. His words haunted her, reverberating in her head. She had managed to avoid thinking about their past for years, but now everything was rushing back, uninvited and unstoppable.

She closed her eyes for a moment, surrendering to the wave of memories that threatened to drown her.

It was the summer of her 18th birthday, and the warm breeze brushed her face as she walked beside Luca through the park. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over the world around them. They had always spent their summer evenings together, sneaking away from their responsibilities just to be in each other's company.

"I have something for you," Luca had said that evening, his smile boyish, full of excitement.

Elena had raised an eyebrow. "Luca, you already gave me a present this morning. Remember the necklace?"

He laughed. "Yeah, but this is different. It's... special."

She watched as he pulled something small from his pocket, his fingers carefully unfolding the delicate paper until a tiny silver ring rested in his palm. It wasn't extravagant or flashy—it was simple, with a single engraved word on the inside: Always.

"It's not what you think," Luca had said quickly, noticing the way her eyes widened. "I mean... it's not a proposal or anything like that. It's just... a promise. You and me. Always."

Elena had felt her heart swell with emotion. No one had ever made her feel as Luca did. He was her best friend, her confidant, her first love. She had slipped the ring onto her finger and smiled up at him, her heart soaring.

"Always," she had whispered back, her voice filled with a quiet certainty. She had believed it then, with all her heart.

But promises like that were easy to break when reality set in. That summer had been their last good one. By the following year, everything had unraveled between them—dreams, expectations, and heartbreak tearing them apart. And now, here they were, both older, both carrying the weight of those broken promises.

Elena blinked, shaking herself from the memory. She hadn't thought about that ring in years. It was still tucked away somewhere in a drawer at home, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to throw it out. Maybe that was part of the problem—she had never fully let go of what they had, even when everything had fallen apart.

A soft knock on her office door startled her. She looked up to see Luca standing there, his tall frame filling the doorway. Her pulse quickened, and she mentally chastised herself for letting him affect her like this.

"Hey," he said, stepping inside, his expression uncertain. "Got a minute?"

She nodded, gesturing for him to sit down. "Sure, what's up?"

Luca sat across from her, the same intensity in his eyes that had unsettled her during their last conversation. He didn't speak right away, just looked at her as if he was trying to figure out how to start.

"Elena," he began slowly, leaning forward, "I've been thinking about what we talked about yesterday. About us."

Her heart skipped a beat, but she kept her face neutral. "Luca, I told you—there is no 'us' anymore. We can't go back."

"I know," he said quickly, cutting her off before she could finish. "I get that. But that doesn't mean we can't at least talk about it. About what happened between us. I need to understand."

Elena swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "What's there to understand? You walked away, Luca. You made that choice."

His jaw tightened, and for a moment, he didn't respond. Then he stood up, moving to the window, staring out at the city below. "I didn't walk away because I wanted to," he said quietly, his back still to her. "I left because I was scared."

She frowned, confusion swirling inside her. "Scared? Scared of what?"

Luca turned back to face her, his eyes filled with a mixture of regret and something deeper—something she hadn't seen in him for a long time. "Of us. Of what we were becoming. It was all so intense, Elena. I felt like we were headed somewhere I wasn't ready for, and instead of talking to you about it, I panicked."

His words hit her harder than she expected, stirring up emotions she had buried deep. She had never understood why he had pulled away so suddenly, why the boy who had promised her "always" had vanished without explanation.

"And you think that makes it okay?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. "You think that just because you were scared, it excuses how you hurt me?"

"No," Luca said, his voice full of sincerity. "No, it doesn't. I messed up, Elena. I know that. I've known it for a long time. But I've changed. I've grown up."

Elena stared at him, torn between the part of her that wanted to believe him and the part that still felt the sting of his betrayal. She wasn't that naïve girl anymore, the one who had trusted so easily.

"I don't know if I can trust you again," she admitted softly, her gaze dropping to the desk in front of her.

Luca's expression softened, and he took a step toward her, his voice gentle. "I get that. I'm not asking you to trust me right away. I just... I don't want us to keep pretending like there's nothing between us. Not when there's still something here."

She looked up at him, her heart in her throat. There was a raw vulnerability in his eyes that tugged at something deep inside her. The wall she had built around herself began to crack, just a little.

"What do you want from me, Luca?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out something small, holding it out to her.

It was the ring—the same silver band he had given her all those years ago, the word Always still faintly visible on the inside. Elena's breath caught in her throat as she stared at it, the memories rushing back with startling clarity.

"You kept it?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Luca nodded, his gaze never leaving hers. "I never stopped thinking about you, Elena. I tried to move on, but... I couldn't. You're still the one."

Her heart pounded in her chest, her emotions a tangled mess of confusion, longing, and fear. She wanted to believe him, wanted to reach out and take the ring, to let herself feel something other than the anger and pain she had held onto for so long.

But she wasn't sure if she could. Not yet.

"I... I don't know if I can do this, Luca," she whispered, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I don't know if I'm ready."

Luca stepped closer, his hand brushing against hers, sending a shiver down her spine. "I'm not asking you to make a decision right now," he said softly. "Just... think about it. Think about us. We deserve a second chance."

Elena stared down at the ring, her heart aching with the weight of everything that had been left unsaid between them. Could she really give him another chance? Could she let herself hope for something she thought she had lost forever?

She wasn't sure. But for the first time in years, the idea didn't seem so impossible.

"I'll think about it," she whispered, her voice trembling with uncertainty.

And for now, that was enough.