Absolutely. Here's Chapter 1 of His Eyes Remember Me rewritten in English, in a natural, emotional, and market-ready style, perfect for Dreame, Webnovel, or Fizzo.
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Title: His Eyes Remember Me
Chapter 1 – The Door We Never Closed
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It had been ten years
Ten years since this town last tasted her footsteps
Ten years since the smell of cinnamon from a quiet corner café wrapped around her heart like a memory she never wanted to unwrap
Ten years since she last looked into the eyes that remembered her more than she wished they would
And now
She was back
Lia walked down the damp sidewalk slowly
The air was cold and quiet
Even the sky seemed to hold its breath
And as she reached the door of Willow Brew
She wasn't sure if her heart was racing or completely still
She opened the glass door
And everything inside her cracked open
The tiny bell chimed above her head
And there he was
Sitting in the same corner
At the same wooden table by the window
One coffee in front of him
And one empty seat
Her seat
She froze
It was him
Arven
He looked almost the same
A little more tired around the eyes
His hair a little longer
But the way he held himself
The way he looked at the window like he was waiting for a ghost
It was still him
And as if he could feel her standing there
He turned
And their eyes met
The moment held its breath with them
Like time had been waiting for this
"Lia…"
His voice was soft
Disbelieving
A whisper that shook her bones
She wanted to smile
But she wasn't sure if she was allowed to
So she simply said
"Hi"
He stood
Still the same
Still the kind of man who stood when she entered the room
Even after ten years
"Is it really you?" he asked
As if she might disappear if he blinked too long
"If it's not," she whispered
"Then you're dreaming me too well"
Arven stared at her
Like someone who had memorized her
And then been forced to forget
"Why now?"
A simple question
But it held ten years of silence behind it
Lia exhaled slowly
Her voice almost breaking
"I thought I could live without you"
His smile was soft
Painful
Knowing
"And?"
"I lived"
She looked down
"But not completely"
He didn't say anything
Just gestured for her to sit
And she did
Two coffees
Just like always
Black
No sugar
He must've still remembered her order
Or maybe he never stopped ordering it
"I come here every Saturday"
He finally said
"Three p.m. Every week. Same table. Same time. Waiting for something I didn't think would ever come back"
She swallowed hard
Her fingers trembling around her cup
"I almost got married," she said
His jaw clenched just slightly
"Why didn't you?"
"Because he said I never looked at him the way I looked at you"
He looked away
And that silence
That horrible, soft silence
Spoke louder than anything else
"Arven…"
"Yeah?"
"I was scared. That's why I left"
"I know"
He looked back at her
"And I was angry. That's why I let you go"
"I thought I was doing the right thing"
"And I kept pretending I was okay with it"
Her eyes watered
But she blinked them clear
"I thought if I came back… you wouldn't remember me anymore"
He gave a soft laugh
Low and aching
"I forgot a lot of things, Lia
But never your eyes
Never the way you said goodbye with your silence before your lips did"
A tear slipped down her cheek
She wiped it quickly
"I'm sorry"
"I'm tired of carrying regrets" he said
His voice steady now
"And I'm tired of wondering what we could've been if we'd just held on a little longer"
She reached across the table
Hesitated
Then placed her hand over his
The warmth felt familiar
Dangerous
Safe
"I still love you" she whispered
He didn't flinch
Didn't move
Just said
"Then don't leave again"
Lia looked into his eyes
The same eyes that had memorized her once
And still remembered every detail
"I won't"
And for the first time in ten years
They both let go of the past
And held on to what still remained
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To be continued...
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Lia didn't know how long they sat there
The coffee between them untouched
Growing cold like the years they'd lost
And yet the warmth of his hand over hers didn't fade
She looked at him again
This time not like a stranger
But like someone who had once memorized every line on his palm
And now was tracing them again with her eyes
"You've changed," she said softly
"Not just your hair. You seem… quieter"
Arven let out a breath
"The years do that to you
Especially when they're filled with silence"
Lia nodded slowly
"I tried to forget you. I really did. I thought if I didn't say your name out loud, it would stop echoing inside me"
"Did it?"
"No"
She smiled sadly
"It got louder every time I pretended I was okay"
He studied her
Like he didn't want to miss anything
Like this was a dream he was afraid would end too soon
"You were the first girl I ever truly loved," he said
"The first person who made me believe I wasn't broken"
"And then I left," she whispered
He shook his head
"No. You ran
Because you thought you were the one who would break me"
Lia looked down at their hands
Still linked
Still warm
"I guess we both underestimated each other," she murmured
"You said you almost got married," he said
Voice careful
Controlled
She nodded
"He was kind
He never raised his voice
He loved me in the way people say you should be loved
But every time I looked at him… I hoped it was you"
Arven looked down
Pain flickering across his face
"I dated too. A few people
But none of them ever made me want to stay"
Lia let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding
"What happens now?"
"I don't know," he said honestly
"I don't want to rush you
I don't want to trap you
But I also don't want to watch you walk away again"
"I don't want to walk away," she said
"But I'm scared that what we had isn't there anymore"
He leaned forward
His voice low
Fierce in a quiet way
"What we had wasn
Lia traced the rim of her coffee cup slowly
The drink was cold now
But her chest felt warmer than it had in years
"I still remember what you once said"
She broke the silence
"That the human heart can forgive
But it never really forgets"
Arven nodded
His eyes steady on hers
"Because the deepest wounds come from the ones we love most"
She swallowed
"You meant me?"
"I meant us"
His voice was soft
"You left. But I let you walk away
And neither of us tried hard enough to stop it"
Lia looked down
"I wrote you a letter back then
But I never sent it
It's still in my drawer. I read it sometimes when I can't sleep"
"Why didn't you send it?"
"Because I was scared
Because if I read it again
I'd realize all I ever needed back then
Was just one more hug from you"
The silence grew heavier
Only the sound of rain tapping against the café windows filled the space between them
Arven sighed
"I've spent so many years wondering if I should've chased you
But I was angry
And you were already disappearing"
Lia let out a bitter laugh
"Why is it that we're only honest now
After ten years?"
"Maybe because now we're finally old enough
To hear the truth without running away from it"
"Maybe because now we know
That if we don't say what matters
We'll lose everything again"
He reached for her fingers again
Warmth in the smallest touch
A quiet kind of promise
"If you came back just to say sorry"
He said gently
"I've already forgiven you a long time ago"
"What if I didn't come back to say sorry?"
He looked
The streetlights outside the café flickered against the glass
casting golden shadows across Arven's face
Lia couldn't stop looking at him
not because he looked the same
but because he didn't
He looked older
not in a tired way
but like someone who had lived through things he couldn't put into words
"You know what hurts the most?" she finally asked
"Not the years we lost
not the silence
but the fact that you were the only one who ever really saw me
and I still walked away"
Arven looked down
He didn't speak for a moment
Then his voice came low
almost afraid
"I waited for your name to stop hurting"
"But it didn't"
Lia blinked quickly
She wasn't going to cry here
Not in front of him
Not again
"I used to pass the old bookstore on 5th Street and wonder if you'd be there"
Arven smiled faintly
"Every time I walked by the river I swore I'd see your coat in the crowd"
"And did you?"
"Sometimes I did
But it was never you"
Lia closed her eyes
There was something so cruel about memory
It dressed itself up as hope
And hope always carried disappointment by the hand
"I was going to write to you," Arven said suddenly
"Last year
When I heard about your dad passing
I held a pen in my hand for thirty minutes and couldn't write a single word"
"I wish you had," she whispered
"I needed you"
He swallowed
"I needed you too
But I thought I'd be the last person you'd want comfort from"
"I wanted only you"
Their eyes met again
And for the first time since she walked through the door
Lia felt like her heart stopped defending itself
The truth was
She had built a hundred walls after him
And none of them ever made her feel safe
"You're still beautiful" he said
not as a compliment
but as a fact
"You're still dangerous" she answered
but there was a smile behind it
a small one
a real one
Arven leaned forward slightly
and his voice softened
"What if we didn't let go this time?"
Lia breathed out slowly
Her fingers trembled against the coffee cup
"I'm not the same girl you fell in love with"
"Good," he said
"Because I'm not the same boy either
But maybe who we are now… might love even better"
And there it was
That spark
That terrifying
fragile
beautiful spark
She reached across the table
and this time
he didn't wait
He took her hand like it was always meant to be there
Neither of them said anything more
Because some moments
speak louder in silence