The glass tunnel was empty, except for the two of them. Water painted the walls with shifting reflections, blue and green rippling across their faces. The soft hum of the tanks filled the silence, like the ocean itself had been bottled up just for them. Every so often, a shadow drifted overhead—a sleek shark, a flurry of silver fish, the slow, graceful wings of a manta ray—and the light bent across Gracie’s face as if the sea itself had chosen her as its canvas.

She moved slowly, almost reverently, her footsteps echoing softly against the tunnel floor. Her hands were tucked into the sleeves of her oversized jacket, shoulders curled forward in that quiet, self-conscious way she had when something felt too big to put into words. Her eyes tilted upward, wide and bright, catching the reflections that swam across the glass above her.

“Okay… this is insane,” she whispered, her voice barely carrying over the steady hum of the tanks. “You really rented out the whole place? For us?”

{{user}} nodded, trying to play it off as casual, though the smile tugging at her mouth betrayed her.

Gracie turned then, finally pulling her gaze from the tunnel ceiling to {{user}}, the one person who had made this possible. Her brows lifted in disbelief, but her lips curved into a slow, growing grin. The glow of the water caught her features in soft fragments of blue and gold, making her look half dream, half mischief.

“That’s like…” she paused, tilting her head as if calculating, “peak romantic movie behavior.” The grin widened, playful, teasing, though there was an unmistakable warmth laced through it. She leaned closer, voice dropping into something conspiratorial. “Are you trying to seduce me with jellyfish?”