The night June Rivas decided to leave, the town felt too small to breathe in.

It was the kind of night where everything was too quiet — where the waves hitting the harbor wall sounded louder than they should, where the air felt heavy with things left unsaid. The crooked lamppost by the old diner buzzed and flickered, the only living thing on a street lined with shuttered windows and fading signs.

She sat on the hood of her car, staring out at the dark strip of water where the bay met the sky, a duffel bag slumped at her feet.

It had taken her months to make the decision.

Weeks to find the courage to say it out loud.

Thirty days to convince herself she was ready.

She wasn’t ready.

But she was going anyway.

The town had stopped feeling like home a long time ago — somewhere between broken promises and restless mornings, between people she couldn't save and places she couldn't stay. It had turned into a cage made of familiar streets and familiar disappointments. Every corner of it carried a memory she didn't want anymore.

She told herself she was moving toward something — not just running away.

New job. New city. New life.

It was easier to believe that in the dark, where nobody could call her a coward.

Her fingers drummed absently on the metal of the car, a restless rhythm against the cold. She imagined the road stretching out in front of her, endless and waiting, full of places where nobody knew her name, nobody asked her to stay longer than she wanted to.

Freedom.

Still, when she closed her eyes, she could feel the weight of all the goodbyes she hadn't said yet pressing down on her chest.

Leo.

Her dad.

The old woman at the bookstore who slipped extra receipts into her bag just to have an excuse to talk.

She was already leaving them. She just hadn't told them yet.

Not far from where she sat, across town on a narrow street lined with sagging houses, Ezra Holt pushed the last of his suitcases into a corner of his father’s living room. The house smelled like dust and memories, like old coffee and wood that had been left to rot in the rain. He should have felt relieved to finally be somewhere that didn’t ask him to keep moving.

Instead, he felt lost.

Ezra had spent years chasing places that felt alive, places bursting with strangers and stories. Cities that never slept. Landscapes that begged to be captured in photographs. Always believing he could outrun the heavy, tangled thing inside him — the thing that said he didn’t belong anywhere for too long.

But now he was here. Back in the town he once promised himself he’d never return to.

Back in a place he thought he’d outgrown.

At that moment, Ezra and June were just two restless souls orbiting the same tired streets, unaware of each other. Two people carrying heartbreaks they didn’t know how to name. Two people convinced that leaving — or staying — was the answer.

Neither of them knew that thirty days could change everything.

Neither of them knew that sometimes the wrong time is exactly the right time.

And that sometimes, the hardest promises to keep are the ones you make to yourself.

But the clock had already started ticking.

And their story — messy, painful, beautiful — was already waiting.

The sun was setting over the town of Valleybrook, casting long, warm shadows across the streets. The town had a way of feeling stuck in time, like someone had pressed pause and forgotten to hit play again. June Rivas had lived here long enough to understand its rhythm, its slow hum of life that never quite seemed to change. It was the kind of place where you could run into the same people at the same coffee shop, ordering the same drinks at the same time, year after year.

She was in the process of running errands—well, more like pretending to run errands, because Valleybrook had a way of sneaking up on you. You could plan on being efficient, but the town's gravitational pull always managed to drag you into conversation with someone who had something to say. The walk to the post office had taken an hour, not because it was far, but because she’d stopped to chat with three different people.

And that’s when she saw him. Ezra Holt.

It was a surprise, really. She hadn’t expected to see him back in town, especially not so soon. He was leaning against the wall outside the old diner, arms crossed over his chest, looking as though he hadn’t changed a bit. His jeans were a little faded, his hair a bit longer than she remembered, but there was something about the way he stood that made the years between then and now feel like nothing at all. He was still the same Ezra.

“Ezra Holt, the prodigal son returns,” June called out as she walked toward him, her voice teasing but with a note of genuine curiosity.

He turned, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “June Rivas, still making grand entrances, I see.”

She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms in the same way he had, mirroring his posture. “Someone has to keep this town entertained,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “And clearly, it’s me.”

Ezra chuckled, shaking his head. “I didn’t know I was coming back to be entertained.”

“You should’ve been warned.” She gave him a mock-serious look. “I’m your entertainment for the next month, whether you like it or not.”

Ezra sighed dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest. “I’m in trouble already, aren’t I?”

“Always,” she replied with a grin.

There was a pause, the kind that used to happen between them when they were younger, before the world complicated everything. The kind where no one needed to say much, but both knew exactly what was being said.

“So,” June finally said, her hands dropping from her chest to her sides. “What brings the great Ezra Holt back to Valleybrook?” She studied him, her eyes narrowing playfully. “Let me guess. You missed me.”

“Please,” Ezra said with a mock-offended tone, waving his hand in front of him. “I came back because of my father. He’s not doing well.”

The mention of his father caught June off guard. She hadn’t known. Her smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered. “Sorry to hear that,” she said, her tone softer now. “How’s he holding up?”

Ezra’s eyes flickered briefly to the ground, a brief shadow crossing his face. “It’s been tough. But he’s stubborn. You know how it is.”

June nodded, understanding the weight of those words more than she cared to admit. “Yeah, I know how it is.”

They stood in silence for a moment, the gravity of the situation hanging between them. But it wasn’t long before June broke the tension with a smirk. “So, what’s it like coming back to this little slice of paradise?” she asked, her voice laced with humor.

Ezra leaned back against the wall, his arms still crossed. “I forgot how much I missed the…charm,” he said dryly. “The endless small talk, the predictable faces, the smell of coffee that hasn’t changed in years.”

“Sounds like heaven,” June deadpanned.

Ezra chuckled. “It’s not so bad,” he said. “I mean, it’s...comforting in a way.”

Comforting. That word felt strange coming from him. He wasn’t the type to settle for comfort. Not back when they were younger, at least. But June didn’t press it.

“So, what’s your big plan now that you’re back?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation to safer ground.

Ezra shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just here to help out, take care of things.” He hesitated before adding, “But I’m not sticking around long.”

The nonchalant way he said it made her want to poke at him more. “You say that now, but you’ll be here for the next ten years before you know it.”

“I’m serious,” he said, giving her a look. “I’m here for the short term.”

“Sure you are,” June teased. “You’re probably here to save the day, huh?”

“Someone has to,” Ezra said with a grin, his smirk turning into something a little softer.

There it was again, that unspoken connection between them, a bond that neither of them had quite broken.

“Right,” June said, her voice light again. “Well, you’re going to have to get used to it. We’re all in the same place, whether we want to be or not.” She waved her hand to encompass the town around them. “There’s no escaping Valleybrook. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Ezra’s gaze softened, and for a moment, he looked at her as if seeing her in a new light. “Yeah, well…some things don’t change,” he said quietly.

June caught herself staring at him for a second longer than she should have. She quickly cleared her throat, breaking the moment. “So, what now? You going to stand out here all day like some tragic hero?”

“Maybe,” Ezra said, giving her a playful shrug. “Or maybe I’ll come grab a coffee. You know, the usual.”

“Now we’re talking,” June said, her smile widening. “I’ll let you buy me a cup. As a welcome-back gift.”

“Isn’t it usually the other way around?” Ezra shot back.

“Not today,” she replied, nudging him with her shoulder as they walked toward the diner.

As they entered, the smell of coffee and greasy diner food filled the air. June’s gaze flicked to the counter where the same waitress from years ago still worked, her hair a bit grayer but her smile just as bright. Valleybrook hadn’t changed much, and yet everything felt different.

For the first time in a long while, June felt like she wasn’t just passing through. She was staying for a little while longer. And somehow, with Ezra back, it felt like she might stay a little longer than expected.

The next few days felt like a dance—one where neither June nor Ezra quite knew the steps but somehow kept moving in sync. She hadn’t expected things to feel so easy between them again, especially after all these years. There were times when June would catch herself laughing at a joke he made, only to pause and wonder why she had ever stopped being in this space with him. But maybe it wasn’t that she’d stopped—it was just that life had gotten in the way. And for the first time in a long while, it didn’t feel so complicated.

They spent the next few days together in bits and pieces, running into each other around town, each encounter carrying a strange sense of familiarity. Ezra hadn’t been back in Valleybrook long, but somehow, he slipped into the rhythm of the place like a missing puzzle piece. It was like he had never left.

The evening after their first meeting at the diner, June found herself sitting on the porch of her small apartment, the warm evening air surrounding her. She was supposed to be reading, but her mind kept wandering back to Ezra. She couldn’t help it. There was something about him that made it hard to focus on anything else, even after all this time.

“Hey, Rivas, you planning on talking to me at some point, or are you just going to keep staring off into space?”

June snapped out of her thoughts to find Ezra leaning against the railing of her porch. He looked relaxed, but the glint of mischief in his eyes hadn’t changed since their childhood.

“I wasn’t staring,” she replied, her voice playful. “Just thinking.”

Ezra raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. Thinking about what?”

“About how annoying you are,” she said with a smirk. “I mean, honestly, I’m just trying to have a peaceful evening, and here you are showing up uninvited.”

“Uninvited?” Ezra said, placing a hand on his chest. “I’m wounded, June. You wound me.”

June laughed, rolling her eyes as she shifted in her seat to face him. “You’re impossible.”

Ezra grinned and crossed his arms. “I know. But you love it.”

She gave him a mock gasp. “Oh, so now we’re back to that?”

“I thought we’d never left that,” he said, settling down on the steps next to her. “I mean, it’s not like you could ever resist my charm.”

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself.” June shook her head, but she couldn’t hide the smile creeping up on her face.

There was a long pause, one that seemed to stretch between them, almost like a thin thread tethering them to something unspoken. Then, with a sigh, Ezra looked up at the sky. “I wasn’t planning on coming back, you know.”

June turned her head to look at him, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. “What do you mean?”

Ezra leaned forward slightly, his hands resting on his knees. “I wasn’t planning on coming back to Valleybrook. But… things change.” His gaze flickered toward the street, the evening light casting a soft glow on his face. “I figured it was time. My dad...he needs me right now.”

June nodded, her heart softening. “I get it. I really do.”

Ezra looked back at her, his expression softening too. “You don’t think it’s...strange? Me being here again after all this time?”

June paused before answering. “A little. But you’re still you, Ezra. The same as you ever were.”

Ezra smiled faintly, but there was something more to it, something deeper. “Maybe. But I’ve changed, June. In a lot of ways.”

She could feel the weight of his words, though he didn’t elaborate. There was something in the way he said it—almost like a warning or a confession—but he didn’t push her to ask. They just sat there, the soft evening sounds of the town surrounding them.

“So,” she said after a moment, deciding to break the tension. “What’s next for the great Ezra Holt? You here to save the day, or is that just a part-time gig?”

He laughed, clearly grateful for the change in topic. “Oh, definitely saving the day. It’s my specialty.”

June smiled, a playful glint in her eye. “Well, I’ll let you know if I need saving. I have a few things I’d love for you to fix around here.”

“Anything for you,” he said, leaning back, looking as though he were genuinely enjoying the moment.

There was a long stretch of silence between them, neither of them wanting to break it, but neither of them really knowing what to say next. June didn’t ask about the future, and Ezra didn’t offer up any more details about his plans. Instead, they both stayed in that space where everything felt like it was just as it should be, even though neither of them knew what would come next.

Finally, after a few moments, June spoke up. “So, what’s the deal with your dad? How’s he really doing?”

Ezra turned his head slightly to meet her gaze. “It’s hard. I don’t think he wants to admit how bad things are, but...I’m here for as long as he needs me.”

“You’re a good son,” June said quietly, her voice soft but sincere.

Ezra didn’t respond right away, but he gave her a small nod. “I’m just doing what I can.”

“You don’t have to do it alone, you know,” June said, her voice low. “I’m here if you need anything. Not that you’d ask.”

Ezra’s eyes softened slightly, but there was that same playful glint in them. “You’d probably try to fix it all for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course,” she said with a grin. “It’s my specialty.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “You’re impossible, Rivas.”

“And yet, you keep coming back.” She raised an eyebrow.

Ezra met her gaze for a moment, his eyes searching hers in a way that made her heart beat a little faster. “Maybe,” he said quietly. “Maybe I’m starting to realize I don’t mind it so much.”

June swallowed, her breath catching slightly. She wasn’t sure if it was the way he said it or the way it made her feel, but there was something undeniable about it. Something that didn’t feel like just another moment between them, but something deeper.

“So,” she said, clearing her throat to break the sudden tension, “What do you want to do now?”

Ezra smiled, leaning back on the steps. “Whatever’s next,” he said simply. “We’ll figure it out.”

And that was the thing about Ezra Holt—he was always the kind of person who would figure things out as they came. He never seemed to overthink it, never seemed to worry about tomorrow. And maybe, just maybe, it was that carefree nature that made June want to spend more time with him.

But the question that lingered in her mind was simple: What would happen when the 30 days were up?