The Things That Held Us Up

Vivienne Martin has spent years building a life in New York City.

An art school dropout turned painter, she lives surrounded by canvases, city lights, and carefully constructed distance from the past. The life she's created isn't perfect, but it's hers.

Then Shay Meyers walks back into it.

Shay was Vivienne's first love. The first girl she ever kissed. The first person she imagined a future with.

And the first person to break her heart.

Years earlier, addiction had woven itself through their relationship, leaving behind missed promises, painful truths, and a goodbye neither of them ever fully recovered from. Now Shay is trying to rebuild her life one day at a time, while Vivienne is finally learning how to stand on her own.

As old memories resurface and long-buried feelings refuse to stay buried, both women must confront the people they used to be-and decide whether love can survive the weight of everything that came after it.

A moving story about first love, forgiveness, friendship, addiction, and self-discovery, The Things That Held Us Up explores the relationships that shape us, the mistakes that haunt us, and the courage it takes to keep moving forward.