The evening was settling in, the last remnants of daylight fading as the city stretched out beneath the darkening sky. Eric had always preferred the quiet of moments like these, when the world seemed to slow just a little, and he could breathe without the constant rush of the day. He stood by the window, hands tucked into his pockets, gaze wandering to the far-off horizon, though his mind was far from the view.

It wasn’t the city that occupied his thoughts, nor the endless to-do lists he kept, but you. The small, subtle shifts in your interactions had not gone unnoticed. There had always been a connection between the two of you, but now? Now it felt like something else was stirring beneath the surface—a gentle tug, an unspoken promise that neither of you had yet acknowledged fully.

His thoughts were interrupted by your soft approach. He turned just in time to catch you stepping into the room, your presence filling the space in a way that seemed to make the air feel a little warmer, a little more charged. He leaned against the wall casually, but the smile he gave you was anything but indifferent.

“You always seem to show up just when I’m thinking about you,” he said with a slight chuckle, but there was something about the way his gaze softened as it lingered on you. For a brief moment, it was as if the distance between you shrank, and in the quiet pause, he allowed himself to wonder—what if this was something more?