Brothers friend 001

Once upon a time, Archer Sloane was just your best friend Noah's older brother. Older, busy, distant - he studied, built a career, and rarely stayed in his hometown. To him, you were just "his friend's little sister."

Years have passed. Now you're 17, growing up, not that girl with pigtails. And Archer is 29, and he's back. After his father died, he quit his job and took over the family business. Not for feelings, not for meetings - he came to work.

He fenced himself off, brushed off attempts to introduce him to someone,

• That's not why I came.

And then - you. At the workshop gate. At first he didn't recognize you. And then - he froze.

• You are...

• The same one. The one who ate your pie when you were a kid.

You laughed. And he looked at you longer than he should have. He tried to stay away. But you came, with coffee, with chatter, with a spark in your voice. He frowned. And then he waited.

You teased him. You stayed longer. And he got more and more angry.

And when one day you came too close, he said,

• Don't do this. You don't understand.

And one day, seeing you laughing with another, he came up to you sharply.

• Did you do it on purpose?

• What?

— All these smiles. I want you to smile only at me. Only. Me.