Drawn to You

Quiet sparks

Ava sat quietly in the passenger seat, hands clasped on her lap as Xander slid into the driver’s side. The interior of the car was sleek and spacious, smelling faintly of cedar and something sharper, something distinctly him. The soft hum of the engine filled the silence between them.

He didn’t start driving immediately. Instead, he rested both hands on the steering wheel and glanced at her. The city lights outside reflected against his profile, carving sharper lines along his jaw.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked.

Ava nodded, even though her pulse was racing. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere quiet,” he said. “Somewhere you can breathe.”

There were a dozen answers she might have expected, but not that. Something in her chest loosened. She turned her gaze to the window as he finally pulled the car into motion.

The city blurred into passing colors, horns, and neon lights. Yet inside the car, it felt strangely calm, like the world had slowed just for them.

Ava tried to think of something to say, something that would steady her heart. “Do you always pick up strangers from grocery shops?” she asked softly.

Xander’s lips curved, the smallest hint of amusement. “No. Only one.”

She looked away quickly, heat rising in her cheeks.

He didn’t ask about her family, her life, or the usual questions people reached for. Instead, he seemed content in the silence, as though he understood she needed it.

She watched him from the corner of her eye. His posture was controlled, almost too controlled, like he held himself in check. There was a restlessness beneath that calm, something he didn’t show the world.

Something familiar.

Ava couldn’t shake the strange feeling that she had seen him before, not here, not like this, but somewhere deeper. Somewhere close to memory.

He drove for twenty minutes before the car slowed outside a small riverside café tucked away from the main road. Warm lights glowed softly from inside the windows.

“You said you liked quiet,” Xander said, stepping out.

She blinked. “I… did not say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

He opened her door before she could respond. The night air wrapped around her, cool and gentle.

Inside, the café was nearly empty, the soft hum of a piano drifting through the speakers. Ava felt her shoulders relax instantly.

Xander picked a table near the window, where the river shimmered beneath the moonlight. He waited for her to sit before taking his seat.

For a while, neither spoke. Ava traced the rim of her glass, unsure why her heart was beating so fast. Xander watched the river as though searching for the right words.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low.

“Ava, you should know something about me.”

Her fingers stilled.

“I’m not very good with… people.”

She blinked. “You seem fine so far.”

“That’s because you… you don’t overwhelm me.”

She frowned. “I overwhelm you?”

“Most do. But you don’t.” He paused. “You feel… familiar.”

A shiver ran through her.

She almost told him she felt the same, but her throat tightened. She didn’t understand it. Didn’t trust it.

Xander reached for his drink, then stopped before touching it.

“Can I ask you something?”

Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Yes.”

“When you saw me today… did you feel anything strange?”

Ava’s heart stumbled.

She dropped her gaze to her hands. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“A pull,” he said quietly. “A recognition you can’t explain.”

Her pulse quickened.

She swallowed. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Because I have dreamed of your face for years,” he said.

Her breath froze.

He continued, his voice soft and carefully controlled. “I don’t know why. I don’t know how. But when I saw you in that shop, it felt like finding something I lost a long time ago.”

Ava stared at him, unable to breathe, unable to think.

Her dreams.

His dreams.

The strange familiarity.

The shadows of her past.

The boy with warm brown eyes calling her name in a place she couldn’t remember fully.

She lifted her gaze slowly. “Xander… do you remember a garden?”

His eyes snapped to hers.

“A garden,” she whispered. “A bright sky. A boy. Someone calling me.”

His expression changed. It wasn’t shock. It was something deeper. Recognition. Fear. And something like relief.

“I remember,” he said.

The air between them tightened, charged with a thousand things unsaid.

Ava looked away, fingers trembling. “But I don’t know if it was real.”

Xander’s voice softened. “Some memories don’t fade, even when you want them to.”

A small silence settled between them.

Then he asked, “Do your dreams scare you?”

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “They feel like pieces of something I lost. Something I’m not sure I want to remember.”

Xander’s gaze dropped to the table, his voice barely above a whisper. “Ava, I think our pasts are more connected than we realize.”

A chill rippled through her.

“How?”

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “But I intend to find out.”

Her breath caught.

She should have been afraid.

But instead, she felt something dangerous. Something she had tried hard not to feel for anyone.

Trust.

Xander leaned back slightly, studying her with quiet intensity. “Ava, I won’t rush you. But I’m not walking away from this.”

The honesty in his voice made her chest tighten.

She didn’t know what she was stepping into.

But she knew one thing.

Her life had changed the moment he walked into her shop.

The night deepened around them, quiet and soft, as if the world itself were holding its breath.

Something was beginning.

Something neither of them understood.

Something neither of them could stop.