Rebecca coped with her depression by creating a strict, solitary routine after her divorce. Each morning, she followed the same steps—making her bed, brushing her teeth, and going for a run, using the time to clear her mind. She kept herself busy, shutting out emotions and distractions.

But recently, a neighbor named Charlie began to disrupt her carefully designed life. Every morning, he greeted her with an infectious enthusiasm, trying to jog alongside her. His persistent cheerfulness, despite her efforts to ignore him, started to wear down her walls. He would crack jokes, and against her better judgment, she found herself laughing. Slowly, she found herself looking forward to their brief encounters.

One morning, Charlie didn’t show up. Concerned, Rebecca knocked on his door, only to learn from an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Lewis, that Charlie had been taken to the hospital. Worried, Rebecca rushed to see him, discovering that he had a heart condition and had been running against doctor’s orders just to spend time with her.

Sitting beside his hospital bed, Rebecca was touched by his words: “I wanted to get to know you.” She squeezed his hand, moved by his honesty. “You don’t need to run to spend time with me,” she replied, inviting him to dinner instead.

Charlie smiled, relieved. “That sounds much safer,” he said, his eyes twinkling. In that moment, Rebecca realized Charlie had become someone she couldn’t imagine her life without.