🥂 The Reunion

Who plays who

• A — The One Who Left: you moved away, and you arrived early on purpose.
• B — The One Who Stayed: you know this room and most of the people in it.
• A leads Acts 1 and 2 — A started this. B leads Act 3, and the two of you share the rest.

What you need

• Something you have not worn since the last time you were here
• One drink, and somewhere to put it down
• A quiet corner, corridor or doorway away from the room
• Your own transport, so neither of you has to leave when anyone else does

Act 1 — 🕯️ Setup

The room is full of people you half recognise and one you absolutely do, and your eyes find each other across it before either of you has said a word. Years disappear between the door and the drinks table, and the people around you stop being interesting. The reunion has done its job, and the two of you have found the quiet corner where it is suddenly only the two of you.

Beats

• Hold the look for as long as it takes before either of you walks over.
• Everyone else is scenery. Speak only to each other from here on.
• Find the corner, the corridor, or the doorway where the party cannot see you.

Lines to say

• "You look exactly the same. That is not a compliment yet."
• "I did not know you were coming."
• "Everyone in here was easier to talk to before you walked in."

Act 2 — 🔥 Build

The corner has a wall to lean on and nobody in it but the two of you, and the reunion noise has faded to something you could ignore. Neither of you has mentioned the years yet — you have only been circling them, the way people do. The first honest sentence is the whole act, and it is A's turn to say it.

Beats

• A speaks first. B does not help.
• One true thing about the gap between then and now, no apologies and no excuses.
• Stay standing. Sitting down changes the temperature.

Lines to say

• "I thought about calling you about fifty times."
• "Why did you actually leave?"
• "I was angry for a year, and then I was just busy, and then it was years."

Act 3 — ⚡ Escalate

Somebody switches the music off and people start finding their coats, but neither of you moves; by the time the room empties, the two of you are the last two standing. Old feelings do not rush back slowly — they arrive all at once, and there is nobody left to perform for. The night belongs to the two of you now, and the venue is anywhere you choose.

Beats

• Choose where this happens out loud: the car, a hotel, home.
• B leads from here. A has been leading the talking all night.
• The first kiss should happen on the way out, not in the room.

Lines to say

• "I am not going home yet."
• "Come with me. I will explain on the drive."
• "You are not allowed to disappear again after tonight."

Act 4 — 💥 Climax

There is no more history to work through and nothing left to explain. Years apart have collapsed into this one room, and you finally have each other with no one else around and no reason to hurry. Stay in it — this is not a reunion any more, it is the beginning of whatever you decide it is.

Beats

• No narrating. If it needs explaining, the years were wasted.
• Use everything Act 3 chose — the place, the lead, the name.
• End it whenever your body decides, not when the script says.

Lines to say

• "Look at me. I want to see it is really you."
• "Say my name the way you used to."

Act 5 — 🤍 Aftercare

The room is quiet, the years are back in the past where they belong, and the two of you are awake in the dark, finally in the same place at the same time. Nobody has said what this is yet. You still do not have to — the aftercare is for being found, not for defining it.

Beats

• Come back into your own names out loud, gently.
• Water, a blanket, and lying still with no agenda.
• One thing each of you is glad about, said out loud, before either of you does anything else.

Lines to say

• "I am glad I came."
• "We do not have to decide anything tonight."
• "Stay until morning. At least until morning."

Aftercare

Water, a blanket, and lying still with nothing left to explain.,Say one thing each of you is glad about, out loud, before sleep.,Decide one real plan together for the next fortnight — the point of a reunion is that there is a next time.

Ground rules and consent

• The reunion ends for everyone else the moment Act 1 does — the room becomes background, and we are alone for the rest of the night.
• The old story belongs to both of us. Either of us can pause to correct it, then restart exactly where we left off.
• "Encore", or simply a raised hand, ends everything in one second, with nothing owed and nothing explained.
• We are not playing our younger selves. We are the people we became, finally in the same room.

We cover the groundwork in How to say what you want.

Frequently asked