Between Canvas and Skin

Some feelings don't disappear with time. They just wait. Lena has spent years being content - good friends, a quiet life, a porch she loves. What she hasn't admitted, not even to herself, is that the empty house across the street has always meant more than she lets on. Because Alex lived there once. And now he's back. Artist. Old friend. The man she never stopped noticing. What starts as easy companionship - hot chocolate on the porch, laughter in grocery aisles, evenings that stretch longer than they should - becomes something neither of them can pretend away.
But being honest means risking everything they already have. A warm, tender story about the courage it takes to stop pretending, and the beauty of falling for someone who has always felt like home.