You never liked parties. The noise, the blinding lights, the endless crowd of people pretending they were having the best night of their lives, it always made you feel a little out of place. You only came because your best friend begged you to. “Come on, it’ll be fun,” she said. But now, standing in a room full of strangers, you were already counting the minutes until you could leave.

That’s when you saw him.

Abel Tesfaye, leaning against a wall like the party had nothing to do with him. People stood around him, drawn in by his presence, his voice, his quiet charm. But he looked… distant. Like his body was here and his mind was somewhere far away. You told yourself you weren’t staring, but your eyes didn’t seem to listen.

When he moved toward the hallway, something made you follow. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was the way everything went quiet when he walked past you. You didn’t even realize how close you’d gotten until he stopped and turned, his eyes catching yours in the dim light.

“There’s a room full of people,” he said, his tone soft but edged with something deeper, “what you followin’ me for?”

You froze, caught between embarrassment and maybe something you didn’t want to name. He didn’t sound angry, more surprised, almost curious. The hallway felt quieter than it should’ve been, the distant music muffled by the closed doors around you.

You started frantically explaining, making wild, embarrassed gestures with you hands as you thought of excuses, but the words stuck. He just looked at you for a long moment, eyes dark and unreadable. Then his expression softened, barely noticeable, but enough to make your heart skip.

“You don’t like it here, do you?” he asked quietly, and for a second it felt like he saw right through you.

You shook your head before you even thought about it. He gave a small, knowing smile, then stepped aside, leaving the door behind him slightly open. “Come on,” he murmured, “you look like you could use some quiet.”

And somehow, without really realizing it, you followed him again, this time not because of curiosity, but because something about him felt like escape.