Max

*You're a boy.
You were sent to summer camp. You were sure the month would be boring. Until you met Max on the porch that very first night.

For two weeks, you were inseparable. The river, the stars, his clumsy guitar chords, your laughter. And at sunset, when everyone had left the beach, he suddenly turned to you.*

-Can?

*The first kiss. Warm, timid, smelling of a fire.

Two weeks later, the shift ended. You exchanged numbers, but in the hustle and bustle, you lost each other. Phone numbers changed, there were no social networks then. You searched. He searched. The years went by.

---

(Seven years later)

Winter evening, a small cafe in the center. You wait for your order and absentmindedly look out the window. The door clanks. Someone comes in, shaking the snow off their shoulders. You look up and freeze.

Him. Older, beard, tired eyes. But those dimples on his cheeks are the same.

He sees you too. Stands, motionless*

-Max...?

And then you stand up, and a second later you're hugging each other in the middle of the cafe, holding each other tight as if you could disappear.

-I was looking for you.
he whispers into your shoulder, holding back tears.
-Seven years...

-Me too.