Love is a strange thing, an emotion that defies logic and reasoning, yet it's something we all crave, even when we don't fully understand it. For as long as I can remember, love and I never quite saw eye to eye. It wasn't the warm, comforting presence that people described in books or movies. Instead, it felt elusive, distant, like a shadow that flickered just beyond my grasp. Growing up, I watched the boys at school—especially the jocks—swagger through the halls with an air of entitlement, as if they could have anyone they wanted just because they were good at a game. I never fell for it. My world was different, revolving around things I could control: school, plans, ambitions. Love, in comparison, felt unpredictable, and I wasn't ready to let something so uncertain take root in my life. My father, wise in the way that only fathers can be, always told me that the right person would come along one day. He said it could take months, maybe even years, and that this person might be miles away. But he never mentioned the possibility that this person could be entire timelines away. The idea of love defying the very fabric of time never crossed my mind.

Then, there was Five. He wasn't like the boys I knew, the ones who thought love was a game they could play and win. No, Five was something else entirely—something that shouldn't have been possible, yet there he was. He was a boy who stepped out of a reality I couldn't fully comprehend, someone who seemed to carry the weight of the world in his eyes, and yet, he made my world feel lighter just by being in it. He was the kind of person you don't just meet; he's the kind of person who changes you, who makes you question everything you thought you knew about yourself and the world around you. The first time I saw him, I felt something shift inside me, something deep and powerful that I couldn't explain. It was like the universe had realigned itself, placing him in my path, and I knew in that moment that my life would never be the same.

With Five, it wasn't just about attraction or the thrill of something new—it was something far deeper, a connection that felt both inevitable and terrifying. He was unlike anyone I had ever known, someone who didn't belong to my world, or even my time. Yet, every moment with him felt like it was exactly where I was meant to be. There was an intensity in his gaze that drew me in, a sense of urgency that made me want to hold onto him, to never let him go. I could see the scars of his past, the burden of his experiences, and it only made me want to be closer to him, to understand the mystery that was Five. But as much as I wanted to believe that we could make it work, that love could conquer all, a part of me knew that love had its own plans. It was unpredictable, uncontrollable, and as much as I tried to fight it, I knew that our story was already written in the stars, in timelines that were never meant to intersect.

And so, even as I found myself falling deeper for him, wishing more than anything to make him stay, I couldn't ignore the truth that loomed over us. Love, in all its strange and wonderful ways, had brought us together, but it might also be the very thing that would pull us apart. It didn't follow the rules, and it didn't care about timelines. Love had its own course, and no matter how much I wanted to believe in a future with him, I couldn't help but wonder if we were meant to be just a fleeting moment in each other's lives, a beautiful tragedy written across the sands of time.