New York, a city that embodies everything he loves, a city he almost came to years ago when he was younger and pining after a girl who was just like him.

His dad had invited Hyde to stay with him and his sister at his apartment in Manhattan for a week, introduce him to the music scene there and some execs he used to work with in production. Hyde wasn't really interested in all that, but he had agreed because he never turns down an offer for an all-expense paid trip to anywhere.

The first few days he and his sister Angie had explored the city, more so for Hyde's sake as his sister had all but grown up in the city. Angie introduced him to all her haunts, and a few of her friends, who shared stories and a joint as they laughed under the stars on their dad's penthouse balcony.

Hyde had begun to enjoy New York; it was like it was a city he had always meant to be in. It felt right, natural. All the craziness of the past two years fades away the longer he stays; from his short-lived romance with Jackie, to marrying a stripper, to finding out his dad is black and that he has a sister, to finally ringing in the new decade with all his friends, everything disappears as if it had never happened.

Now walking back from a meeting with his dad and a former business partner who offered him a job to co-run an enormous store in the city, he thinks about what it would mean to stay. He would be leaving behind his home, his friends—no, his family—to pursue this opportunity. One pesky thought tugs at the back of his mind; it also meant he could find her.

As if the gods above have heard his thoughts, the still-familiar voice calls his name in surprise. Blue meets blue as he catches her eye in the crowd not one-hundred feet from where he stands. She rushes over to him, elbowing her way out of the throng, a travel mug in her hand and the widest smile he's ever seen brighten her face.

He feels like he should hate her for leaving, like he should want to pretend like he hadn't seen her, hadn't heard her sweet voice call his name, but he didn't hate her then and he still doesn't now. Couldn't. He had never truly been able to get over the blond girl with the baby blue eyes, and he didn't think he ever would.

So as she rushes up to him with an infectious smile on her rosy lips, and whispers a hello in the space where their breathing mingles together, he falls all over again. He doesn't know what the future holds for them, but the universe has brought his Evie back to him, and this time, he intends to keep his promise and never let her go.

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