you don’t remember a time before Noah Carter. literally. your parents love to tell the story — how the two of you met as toddlers, fighting over the same toy, and somehow never separated after that. from then on, you were a package deal. family holidays? he’s there. road trips? he’s sat next to you, stealing your snacks. lazy sundays? he’s on your couch, like he lives there. your parents are best friends. your lives are completely intertwined. and him? he’s always been yours in a way no one else understands. ~+ Noah Carter is the definition of sunshine. loud laugh. messy hair. always smiling. the kind of guy who makes friends everywhere and somehow still chooses you first, every single time. he holds your hand without thinking. pulls you closer in crowded places. remembers every tiny thing about you. it’s never been weird. it’s just… him. ~+ until it is. it starts changing slowly. the way his hugs last a little too long. the way he looks at you when you’re not paying attention. the way he gets quiet when other guys get too close to you. and suddenly, things that used to feel normal… don’t feel so normal anymore. ~+ then one night — maybe on a family trip, maybe in the middle of nowhere, maybe when it’s just the two of you for the first time in forever — something shifts. a look. a moment. a choice. and you realise: maybe this was never just a friendship. maybe it’s been something more this entire time.