The bar was small, tucked between a bookstore and a tattoo parlor in Brooklyn, but it pulsed with energy. Fairy lights crisscrossed the low ceiling, and the scent of whiskey and wood polish hung in the air. Maya slipped through the crowd, heart pounding beneath her coat.

  Julian was already on stage.

  She spotted him instantly—guitar in hand, head slightly bowed, lost in the melody. His voice wrapped around the room like velvet: warm, raw, intimate. He hadn’t seen her yet, but somehow, it felt like he was singing to her.

  “And in the noise of the world, I found you

  Like a whisper in the storm

  You were rain on the window

  And I… I was finally warm.”

  Maya’s breath caught. She didn’t know if the song was new or something he’d written long ago, but the timing—the lyrics—hit too close.

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  When he glanced up and their eyes met across the room, time stalled.

  After the applause, Julian stepped off stage and found her near the bar. His hair was tousled, cheeks flushed, that same easy smile tugging at his lips.

  “You came,” he said, like he wasn’t entirely sure she would.

  “You sang,” she replied. “That song…”

  “Yours,” he said simply. “Kind of wrote it that night.”

  She blinked. “Julian…”

  “I don’t know what this is,” he continued, his voice lower now, “but I haven’t stopped thinking about you. About us, or whatever this... could be.”

  Maya stared at him. Her life was built on plans and logic, on blueprints and deadlines. This—him—was not part of the plan.

  And yet, here she was.

  “What if I’m too busy for love?” she whispered.

  He leaned closer. “Then I’ll wait in the in-between. That space where you breathe.”

  She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Her fingers brushed his, and just like that, the music between them played on.