To Start Over (Book 1)

If We Make It

Olivia's POV

We sat outside the house in silence. Seb and I drifted off into our own thoughts.

Seb exhaled slowly, the scent of tobacco still faint on his hoodie from his last cigarette. He looked at me with those eyes that always made my heart skip a beat. "You ever think about what comes after this?" he asked softly.

I turned to him, brushing my thumb over the scar on his knuckle. "After what?"

"After everything," he gestured around us. "This, tomorrow, next year. All of it."

My heart skipped when our eyes met, the air caught between hope and lingering fear. Each glance carried the weight of unspoken confessions, a fragile dance of longing and restraint. Life had shown us that happiness could vanish in a moment, so we moved gently—two stars in the same uncertain sky, afraid to burn out but desperate to shine together.

"I think about it," I admitted. "What we could be."

He smiled, soft and almost shy. "What do you see?"

"I see myself finally finishing that novel," I whispered. "The one I keep starting and stopping. Maybe someone would actually want to publish it."

"They'd be idiots not to," Seb said with absolute certainty. "You've always had a way with words that makes people listen."

I felt the warmth of his belief in me spread through my chest. "What about you? What do you dream about?"

He hesitated, looking almost embarrassed. "Promise you won't laugh?"

"Cross my heart," I said, curious now.

"I want to be a lawyer," he said, his voice growing more confident as he continued. "Someone who stands up for people who can't stand up for themselves. Maybe even open my own practice someday."

I stared at him, surprised. "A lawyer? You never told me that before."

"It's been in the back of my mind for a while," he admitted. "Just never seemed like the right time to bring it up."

"You'd be amazing," I said sincerely. "You're certainly stubborn enough for it."

Sebastian laughed, low and warm. "It's called determination, Liv."

"It's called being a pain in the ass," I countered with a grin.

"Fair enough," he conceded with a smile. "Would you support me? If I actually tried?" The evening breeze picked up slightly, making me shiver. Sebastian noticed and shifted closer, his warmth immediately comforting.

We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the sky change colours as sunset approached.

"You know what I was thinking about?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"A house," he said, his voice growing animated. "Not just any house, but one with character. Old wooden floors that creak in all the right places."

I smiled, caught up in his enthusiasm. "With big windows to let in the light."

"And a yard," he added. "Nothing too big, just enough for a garden maybe."

"What about a porch swing?" I asked, the image forming clearly in my mind.

"Definitely. And there would be bookshelves everywhere—for my novels and your law books."

"My books probably would be boring to you," he said thoughtfully.

"Try me," I challenged. "I might surprise you."