The next time they met, it wasn't planned.
Jake was walking through the park, guitar slung over his back, headphones around his neck, and thoughts spiraling in a hundred directions. Spring had started to stretch its arms across the city-petals scattered on sidewalks, warmth in the breeze.
And then, like some kind of cosmic joke or perfectly timed fate-there she was.
Hriva. Sitting cross-legged on a bench with a book in her lap, earphones in, head swaying lightly to music only she could hear.
Jake stopped walking. He just stared at her, completely unguarded.
She didn't see him at first. But when she did, her face lit up-not with surprise, but something softer. Like she'd been waiting.
"You stalking me now?" she teased, slipping her earphones out.
Jake grinned. "What if I said yes?"
"Then I'd say… you're not very good at it."
They walked without a destination, like two puzzle pieces that had finally found each other in the box. There were no distractions-just footsteps on grass and the wind weaving between their words.
At one point, Jake stopped beneath a wide, blooming tree. "You ever just… want to leave everything behind for a day?"
Hriva looked at him. "Every day."
"Come with me."
She raised an eyebrow. "Where?"
He pointed to the sky. "Anywhere that doesn't expect anything from us."
They didn't go far. Just an hour outside the city, to a quiet lake Jake had found once while chasing silence.
It was all soft ripples, wildflowers, and sun scattered over the water like glitter.
They sat on a blanket near the shore. Shoes off. Music low. Her head resting near his shoulder but not quite touching.
And for a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Hriva whispered, "This feels dangerous."
Jake turned his head. "Why?"
"Because it feels real."
He swallowed hard. "It is."
She looked up at him, eyes wide and vulnerable in a way that made something inside him tremble.
"You scare me," she said softly.
Jake smiled, but it wasn't teasing. It was full of the same fear. "Good. Because you wreck me."
There were no stars above yet. But the electricity in the air felt just as infinite.
And then-it happened.
No grand build-up. No music swelling.
Just a breath.
Just two people pulled toward each other like gravity had finally lost its patience.
Jake leaned in slowly. Hriva met him halfway.
Their lips touched like a secret-gentle at first, like they were testing the truth of everything unspoken.
Then deeper. Warmer.
Like a thousand silent poems finally found a voice.
When they pulled back, she kept her eyes closed for a moment longer.
Jake rested his forehead against hers. "This… this is going to ruin me."
Hriva smiled, a little broken, a little breathless. "Then we'll be ruined together."
But as the sun dipped lower, as their hands found each other and held on like they were anchoring something fragile…
Neither of them said the word love.
Not yet.
Because love was still sharpening its edges.
And it would cut deep-eventually.