LOVE ME AT THIRTY

SARAH'S POV

The alarm blared over and over again, sharp and insistent, cutting through the quiet of my room.

Normally, I would’ve groaned or slapped it off with annoyance, but today… I smiled.

I reached out, silencing the alarm, then stretched beneath the sheets, my body warm, my heart even warmer. Joy pulsed through me, light and uncontrollable, like something good was about to happen—something I’d been waiting for my whole life.

Today was my birthday.

My thirtieth birthday…and no, that wasn’t the real reason my chest felt like it might burst.

Today was the day a promise might finally come true.

Fifteen years.

That was how long it had been since Brian and I made that childish promise yet powerful enough to shape every decision I’d made since.

I tilted my head to the side as the memory of that day came crawling back.

We were still teenagers then, sitting on the cracked pavement outside our school with our bags tossed aside as we waited for my parents to pick us up for the holiday.

We’d been laughing about nonsense, pushing each other, teasing the way only best friends could, when Brian had jokingly muttered;

“If you keep eating like a pig and don’t watch your weight,” Brian had said, grinning, “you’re going to grow so big nobody would want you.”

I remembered shoving him hard, my cheeks burning with anger even as he continued speaking.

“Relax,” he added quickly. “I’ll always be by your side. Besides, with my bad character, I’ll probably never get married anyway and you’ll just have to always be there for me.”

My heart raced that day like it always did around him as we both went quiet for a moment before blurting out, maybe trying to find the next word to say.

“If we get to thirty and we’re still not married… we should just marry one another.”

I laughed back then, pretending it was a joke, pretending my heart wasn’t pounding painfully in my chest.

I’d loved him even then but wasn't brave enough to say it to him. I didn't wanna ruin the beautiful friendship we had.

“Promise me,” he’d said, suddenly serious.

“Of course,” I’d whispered and we’d locked pinkies together, sealing a future I’d never stopped believing in.

My cheeks were hurting from smiling so much now, even as I yawned, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

Almost then, the door suddenly burst open.

“Sarah!”

Before I could react, something slammed into me.

“Oof!” Pain exploded in my stomach as Brian jumped straight onto the bed, his weight knocking the breath out of me.

“Are you okay?!” I yelled, clutching my side. “What is wrong with you? Are you trying to wound me?”

He laughed loudly, completely unbothered, lying across me like a lunatic. “It’s our birthday! Our thirtieth birthday!”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I know. You’re screaming like it’s breaking news.”

“Ofcourse it is!" He beamed, grabbing my cheeks and squeezed them. “Stop