“Olivia!”

I turn around at the sound of a familiar voice and I’m unable to fight the smile stretching my lips.

Chloe is standing in the doorway wearing a metallic pink bubble jacket and matching snow boots, her curly hair tangled into two puffs on the top of her head. Behind her, Asher idles hesitantly, like he’s not sure if coming was a good idea.

But Chloe bounds in fearlessly, making up his mind for him. They’re staying whether he wants to or not.

“Chloe.” When she throws herself into my arms, the wind is knocked out of me in the form of a laugh.

“I thought you’d be at Uncle Asher’s this morning, but I got there and it was just him.” She frowns. “Where were you? How come you didn’t get breakfast with us? Uncle Asher let me have two chocolate chip banana muffins and hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and caramel.”

“No wonder you have so much energy,” I say. “I want you to meet my friend, Valentina.”

Chloe looks at the girl next to me. “Hi! What’s your favorite color? Do you like Shopkins? What about Ninja Turtles? I met Spiderman once. He smelled like bologna and charged Mommy ten dollars to take a picture with me.”

Valentina looks overwhelmed for about two seconds. “I met Mickey Mouse once!”

“Me too!” Chloe sits down on the stool next to her. “Can I use your orange crayon?”

Childhood friendships are so simple and innocent. Good thing we’re in a hospital because my heart is about to swell and burst, which I’m pretty sure isn’t good for my cardiovascular system.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Asher’s shadow. He pulls out his own stool. He’s too tall. His knee knocks the table, sending a green and yellow crayon onto the floor. Chloe scowls at him.

I, however, can barely look him in the eyes. We give each other fleeting glances. How much of last night does he remember? I’m not sure I want him to remember as much as I do. How do we come back from that? Seven words. Twenty-one letters. They changed everything.

“Thank you,” he finally says. “For bringing me home.”

Okay, so he remembers last night.

“It was the least I could do,” I say. “Couldn’t just leave you on that stoop. Who knows how many more lemon loaves you would have ordered.”

“What?”

Okay, so he remembers some of last night.

“There’s a Starbucks in Utah that you should probably avoid.”

“I’ll try to remember that on the off chance I ever go to Utah.”

“I hear the skiing is good. Lots of trails to hike. Tons of national parks. It’s very outdoorsy.”

“Olivia,” he says, forcing my eyes to meet his. “I shouldn’t have said it.”