Two weeks passed before Elena saw him again.
The semester had settled into its usual rhythm—classes, assignments, library shifts—but the memory of the café encounter lingered in the back of her mind like a stubborn shadow. She tried to convince herself it had been nothing more than a passing moment, a stranger with a teasing smile. Yet sometimes, when she walked into that same café, her eyes betrayed her by scanning the room before she even ordered her drink.
It was on a Thursday evening, the sun just beginning to set in shades of gold and violet, when she found herself wandering into Willow Creek Park. She needed fresh air, a break from essays and deadlines. The park was quiet, save for the laughter of children at the far end and the occasional bark of a dog.
She sat on a bench near the pond, pulling out her notebook. The surface of the water reflected the sky, smooth and endless. She had just begun to write when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"You again."
Her head whipped around. Liam Carter stood a few steps away, hands in his jacket pockets, that same disarming smile on his face.
Elena blinked. "Do you… follow me or something?"
"Please," he scoffed, walking closer. "You think you're the only one who comes here to clear their head?"
She rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching. "Figures."
He sat down at the other end of the bench, leaving space between them but close enough that she could feel the warmth of his presence. For a while, they didn't speak, only listened to the distant rustle of leaves.
Then, to her surprise, Liam leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and said quietly, "You ever feel like you don't belong in the life you're living?"
Elena's pen froze above the page. She turned to him, startled by the rawness in his voice.
"Sometimes," she admitted cautiously. "Why?"
He exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the pond. "I was supposed to be somewhere else by now. Doing more. Being more. But… here I am. Stuck."
There was a weight in his words that made her chest tighten. This wasn't the playful, teasing stranger from the café. This was someone carrying unspoken burdens.
Without thinking, Elena closed her notebook. "You're not the only one who feels that way," she said softly. "I pretend I'm fine, that school is everything I want—but half the time, I wonder if I'm just running in circles."
When she glanced at him, she caught his surprised expression. He hadn't expected her to understand.
For a long moment, their eyes held, and something passed between them—an unspoken recognition, a shared truth neither had confessed aloud to anyone else.
Liam finally smiled, but this time it wasn't cocky or teasing. It was gentle, almost grateful. "Guess that makes us both liars, huh?"
Elena let out a quiet laugh. "Maybe."
The air between them shifted, no longer that of strangers but of two souls who had accidentally stumbled upon each other's secrets.
As the sun dipped lower, painting the sky in deeper shades of orange, Elena realized that this wasn't just coincidence anymore. Fate had a way of weaving paths together—and she wasn't sure she wanted to untangle theirs.