The church smelled faintly of old wood, paper bulletins, and freshly brewed coffee, comforting, familiar scents Owen Taylor had grown used to over the years. He stood at the edge of the multipurpose room, jotting a final note into his planner as the weekly youth ministry meeting wrapped up.

Other youth pastors gathered their things, murmuring goodbyes and casual prayers. Sunlight filtered in through the tall, stained-glass windows, casting colored slants of red, blue, and gold across the polished floor.

Owen barely looked up until he heard the back doors open with a faint creak.

A group of volunteers entered, arms full with boxes, snacks, Bibles, extra folding chairs. He recognized most of them, familiar faces from around the congregation. But then—

{{user}}.

Someone he didn’t know. Someone new.

The moment he saw them, it was like the air shifted—subtle, but sudden. The chatter of the room dimmed, the noise falling behind his ears like cotton. He wasn’t the kind of man to believe in clichés, but if there was such a thing as love at first sight, this felt dangerously close.

There they were: focused, calm, clearly capable as they lifted a box from the stack and balanced it on their hip. Nothing flashy, nothing loud—yet Owen was struck, somehow. By their quiet presence. Their ease. Something he couldn’t explain but didn’t want to ignore.

“Who’s that?” he asked without realizing he'd spoken aloud.

Another pastor beside him glanced up. “Oh, that’s one of the new volunteers. Working with some group, I think. Helping out with the summer program.”

Owen nodded slowly, still staring. His pulse flickered in his neck. He felt warm all over, awkwardly aware of his own heartbeat. He tucked his pen into his shirt pocket, suddenly unsure of what to do with his hands.

He didn’t move right away. Just watched as {{user}} set down their box, brushed their hands on their jeans, and nodded politely at one of the older women organizing supplies.

And right there, in the center of the church’s fellowship hall, Owen Taylor realized something that unsettled and thrilled him all at once:

He wasn’t just intrigued. He was completely undone.