Lost & Found

The subway station was nearly empty, the faint hum of a distant train echoing through the tunnels. Claire stood by the ticket machine, fumbling through her purse, frustration creeping up her spine. Of all days to forget her metro card, it had to be today—when she was already running late.

She sighed, pulling out a few crumpled bills. The machine beeped angrily when she inserted them. Seriously?

“Need some help?”

The voice was familiar—too familiar. Claire froze, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag. Slowly, she turned.

Ethan.

For a second, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. But no, it was really him. Same dark eyes, same messy hair that always fell over his forehead. He looked different, though—older, maybe. A little more worn around the edges. The leather jacket he always used to wear was gone, replaced by something softer, something that made him look less like the reckless boy she had once loved and more like the man she had never gotten the chance to know.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice barely steady.

Ethan shoved his hands into his pockets. “I could ask you the same thing.”

She blinked, caught off guard. It had been three years since she had last seen him. Three years since they had said goodbye in this very station, both too stubborn to fight for what they had lost.

“I live here now,” she said finally. “Moved a few months ago.”

A slow nod. “I figured. I saw your name on a bookstore receipt a while back.”

Claire’s heart stuttered. “You kept a receipt?”

Ethan let out a small, almost sheepish laugh. “Guess I did.”

She didn’t know what to do with that. Was he just being nostalgic, or did that mean something?

Silence stretched between them, thick with memories neither of them knew how to voice. The last time they had been here, it had been raining. She had walked away, tears mixing with the downpour, convinced that love wasn’t enough to fix what was broken.

But looking at him now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

“You still talk in your sleep?” Ethan asked suddenly, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

Claire let out a small, surprised laugh. “I don’t know. No one’s around to tell me if I do.”

His smile faded slightly, and something unreadable flickered in his eyes. Regret? Nostalgia?

She swallowed. “And you? Still drinking too much coffee?”

“Some things never change.”

Another silence. Another unspoken thought lingering between them.

Ethan shifted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I—I should probably go. I just… wanted to say hi.”

It was so simple, so casual, yet something in his voice made her chest ache.

Before she could stop herself, she said, “Ethan, wait.”

He paused.

She hesitated, then exhaled. “Do you want to grab a coffee? Just… catch up?”

For a moment, he didn’t respond. Then, slowly, a familiar smile played on his lips.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’d like that.”

As they walked toward the exit, Claire felt something shift—like maybe, just maybe, what was lost could be found again.