They were inseparable. Now they’re strangers—with a past neither forgot.

Jenny Taylor has always known exactly who she wants to be. Work hard. Become a doctor. Help children living with chronic illness—just like she has. And through every dream, every plan, her best friend Drew Dawson was always there, cheering her on, ready to follow her anywhere.

From NICU incubator neighbors to high school classmates, Jenny and Drew grew up side by side. Both born prematurely just one day apart, they shared more than childhood memories—Jenny with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Drew with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Their bond was unbreakable, built on understanding, loyalty, and a promise to always stick around.

Until the night everything fell apart.

At seventeen, Drew realizes the truth: he’s in love with Jenny. He writes her a letter, pouring his heart onto the page—but she never acknowledges it. On prom night, a devastating misunderstanding shatters their friendship, breaking the one rule that mattered most. Drew leaves, and the two drift into separate lives they never meant to live without each other.

Ten years later, fate brings them back to the town they once called home as they reunite beside a sick loved one’s bedside. Drew is ready to finally say what he’s carried in his heart for years. Jenny still feels it too—except now she’s engaged, bound by a life she chose when she thought the past was gone for good.

Some loves never fade.

Some truths wait years to be spoken.

It’s Always Been Us is an emotional, slow-burn second-chance romance about first love, chronic illness representation, devastating misunderstandings, and the question of whether the right love can survive the wrong timing.

Tropes you'll find inside:

• Friends to lovers
• Second-chance romance
• Emotional slow burn
• Unspoken love
• Love letter confession
• Reunion after years apart
• Engagement obstacle
• Chronic illness representation