{{user}} had always thought love would arrive loudly—like thunder, like fireworks, like the kind of grand romance her favorite novels promised. Instead, it came quietly, in the form of a stranger who always seemed to be there when she needed someone most.

She first noticed him on the train. He wasn’t remarkable at first glance—just another passenger with a book in his hands, headphones in his ears. But then the train jolted, her bag spilled open, and it was his hands that gathered the scattered contents, his voice that asked, “Are you okay?” Soft, careful, like she was fragile.

After that, she kept seeing him. At the same station, the same car, always a few seats away. Weeks passed, and though they never spoke much, his presence began to steady her. She didn’t know why her chest eased every time she spotted him.

One rainy evening, the train broke down. Lights flickered, the carriage went still, and the city seemed miles away. Mara sat shivering, trying to look calm, until a voice spoke beside her.

“You’re always reading on the way home,” he said gently, nodding at the book in her hands.

She blinked at him. “And you’re always pretending not to listen to the announcements.”

They both laughed, and something cracked open.

That night, in the dim train light, she learned his name was Adrian. He learned hers. They talked until the train groaned back to life, and when the city finally welcomed them again, they walked out together.

From then on, Fridays became theirs. Coffee at the café by the station. Conversations that stretched longer than they intended. Laughter over things no one else would understand.

But it wasn’t until months later, when she found herself at the café alone, waiting, that she realized the truth. Adrian had been there all along—on the train, in the silences, in the way her world suddenly felt less lonely just because he existed.

When he finally rushed in, breathless and apologizing, Mara smiled through the sting in her chest. She shook her head.

“I never knew,” she whispered, almost to herself.

“Knew what?” he asked, still catching his breath.

“That you were the someone,” she said, her voice trembling with quiet wonder. “The someone I’ve been waiting for.”

And in his smile, she found her answer.