He Took Me on a Surprise Road Trip for Our Anniversary,

On our first anniversary, Clay surprised me with breakfast in bed—bacon, cinnamon toast—and a road trip. I thought he was moving on from his past. We drove through Iowa cornfields, his playlist humming, but his focus on specific sights, like a barn’s slope or light, felt oddly intense. When I mentioned a childhood memory at a waterfall, he shut down, revealing the trip echoed one with his ex, Megan. At the motel, I found their names

carved in a tree. Hurt, I confronted him. Clay admitted he hoped to rewrite old memories with me but realized I wasn’t a replacement. When I said “I love you,” he hesitated, unsure if he still loved Megan. Devastated, I walked out, but Clay chased me, barefoot, confessing his mistake. “I love you,” he shouted, then whispered, forehead against mine. The past wasn’t gone, but we were real, alive. This trip wasn’t about Megan—it was ours, built now, with love that finally felt true.