The university's computer science lab was empty except for the glow of monitors and the soft clicking of keyboards. It was nearly midnight, and Sophia Chen sat surrounded by code, her brow furrowed in concentration. She'd been working on her AI project for fourteen hours straight.
The lab door opened quietly. Sophia didn't look up until she heard the familiar footsteps.
"You're going to damage your eyes," Aiden said, setting down two coffee cups and a bag from her favorite Vietnamese restaurant.
Sophia sat back, surprised. "How did you know I was here?"
"You mentioned you work late on Thursdays. And you always skip dinner when you're debugging." He smiled. "Am I wrong?"
She wanted to be annoyed by how well he'd observed her habits, but the aroma of pho made her stomach growl audibly. "You're not wrong," she admitted.
Aiden pulled up a chair beside her, maintaining a respectful distance. Since their first kiss a week ago, he'd been patient, letting her set the pace. It was infuriating and endearing in equal measure.
"Show me what you're working on," he said.
Sophia hesitated, then pulled up her code. "It's a neural network designed to learn ethical decision-making. But I'm stuck on this section—the algorithm keeps optimizing for efficiency over nuance."
Aiden studied the screen, and Sophia noticed something different about him. His eyes moved faster, processing information with startling speed. When he spoke, his insights cut directly to the core issues.
"You're thinking about it linearly," he said. "But ethical decisions aren't linear. They're multidimensional. What if you restructured this section to accommodate paradox rather than resolve it?"
He sketched out a solution that was elegant and innovative. Sophia stared at him.
"When did you learn advanced AI architecture?"
"Recently." Aiden met her eyes. "I've been studying. I wanted to understand your work, to speak your language."
Something in Sophia's chest tightened. The men she'd dated before either couldn't comprehend her research or felt threatened by her intelligence. Aiden seemed genuinely fascinated by both her mind and her passion.
They worked together for the next two hours, the collaboration flowing naturally. Sophia found herself laughing at his observations, explaining concepts with enthusiasm rather than the guardedness she usually maintained.
"There," she said finally, running the new code. The algorithm performed beautifully, making nuanced choices she'd struggled to achieve for months. "That's... that's perfect."
"We made a good team," Aiden said quietly.
Sophia turned to find him watching her with an expression that made her pulse quicken. The lab suddenly felt smaller, more intimate. The city lights through the windows cast them in soft shadows.
"Aiden..." she began, uncertain what she wanted to say.
He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know you're scared. I know this—" he gestured between them, "—goes against everything you planned. But Sophia, what we have is real."
"I don't share well," she whispered, voicing her deepest concern.
"I'm not asking you to share me like I'm a possession," Aiden said. "I'm asking if you can imagine a different kind of relationship. One where there's enough love that it multiplies rather than divides."
"That sounds like a fantasy."
"Maybe. Or maybe we're just brave enough to try something new."
Sophia thought about Isabella, whom she'd glimpsed at Aiden's penthouse. She'd felt jealous, yes, but also something unexpected—curiosity. The doctor had been warm, intelligent, not a rival but potentially... something else.
"I don't know if I can do this," Sophia admitted.
"Then don't. Not yet." Aiden took her hand gently. "I'm not going anywhere. Take all the time you need to decide what you want."
The kindness in his voice broke through her final defenses. Sophia leaned forward and kissed him, pouring months of loneliness and hope into the contact. This kiss was different from their first—deeper, more certain, a promise rather than a question.
When they pulled apart, Sophia was breathless.
"I want to try," she said. "I'm terrified, but I want to try."
Aiden smiled, and in that moment, surrounded by code and coffee cups and the quiet hum of computers, Sophia felt something she'd never expected to find in a lab:
The beginning of home.