PROMPT: write a story that explores the idea of new beginnings

Before they found each other, Evelyn and Rowan were only surviving. Together, they were thriving. They became the couple everyone wanted to be, though not out of jealousy – out of admiration.

It had happened purely by chance, an innocent friendship turned into something more, guarded by the purity of neither of them wanting a relationship. It had felt so natural between them from the start of their friendship; as if they'd known each other for years.

All it took was a month or so and Rowan's growing crush on Evelyn was returned. Not out of sympathy or pity like the other instances in Evelyn's life so far, but because she too felt that magnetic pull towards this boy she'd only known a handful of weeks.

The spark between them was something else – something that only occurs every few years. An elemental force of love, bound together by something neither of them could describe.

They became the new beginning both of them had needed. Going to uni was the first step, moving away from home and starting afresh with new sets of friends and new lives. Evelyn gained confidence; Rowan gained maturity. They met at the perfect time, one could say.

"You saved me," Rowan whispered to Evelyn as she lay with her head on his chest in his single bed. It was on the cramped side, but neither of them minded.

Evelyn propped herself up and gazed into Rowan's captivating eyes. "We saved each other," she told him, knowing he too had struggled in the past, just as she had.

Toxic exes and the weight of the world has descended down on their shoulders a few times to often. But now they had each other for support, to share and to ease the burdens of life.

It seemed they could do most anything together; from talking about all sorts to sitting in silence and reading together. Bliss – that's what their love was to Evelyn, and she suspected it was the same for Rowan. Peaceful, wholly requited and all-consuming in the best way possible.

A love to outlast the stars.

(350 words)