Chapter 9 A QUIET COLLISION

Some collisions happen with noise-screeching tires, splintering glass, a sudden crash,

Others happen in silence.

A glance that lasts too long,

A confession delivered without words,

A moment that rearranges everything, but no one dares name it.

Elijah and Sofia had been circling that moment for weeks,

Now, it was finally here.

---

It was Sunday afternoon when she knocked on his door,

He hadn't expected her, Hadn't even heard her car.

He opened the door to find her standing there in worn jeans, a hoodie pulled over her head, and sneakers on her feet. She held up a bag of Chinese takeout in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other.

"I was bored in the house ," she said.

No apology,

No excuse,

Just truth.

He stepped aside.

"Come in."

---

They sat tangled on the living room floor, lo mein cartons between them, chopsticks clinking gently. Charlie pressed his head to Sofia's thigh, curling into her like a memory that never left, like he belonged in the quiet spaces between them.

Outside, the city was noisy; Inside, everything felt softer-dim lights, quiet music, and laughter from them.

They talked for a very long time,

About nothing,

And everything.

Elijah told her about Lillian, for the first time. The pain, the loss, the part of him he hadn't retrieved since she left.

Sofia listened, silent, but entirely present.

"I don't think I've completely trusted anyone since then," he admitted.

She nodded slowly. "I can't remember being trusted enough to recognize what that even feels like."

The truth hung between them, it was fragile and exposed, like something too tender to last, seen for a heartbeat, then swallowed by silence.

Visible,

Fleeting,

Real.

---

Later, as rain began to whisper against the windows, they shifted to the couch. No one said a word, they moved closer to each other; their arms brushed, then their knees.

Sofia stared into her wineglass, saying nothing.

"You ever wonder if timing is just a myth?,

He looked at her,

"All the time."

"Like, maybe people don't come into your life at the wrong time.m, maybe you're just scared to let them in when it matters most."

He said nothing.

Then:

"I think about you when you're not around."

She turned to him. "How often?"

"Too often."

The silence that followed wasn't awkward,

It was loaded.

She placed her glass on the table, Slowly. Carefully.

He did the same.

Then, without uttering a word, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

He was scared for a moment, then got himself relaxed.

He remained unmoved, Didn't' speak,

Just let her stay there.

The couch was quiet, the apartment was warm, And in that small, careful closeness, everything shifted,

Not with a kiss,

Not yet,

But with the kind of tenderness that said: We're already in this, whether we admit it or not.

---

They didn't sleep together that night,

But she stayed,

On the couch.

Wrapped in one of his oversized T-shirts, her breathing steadied, it was soft and slow.

Elijah stayed awake for a while after she has dozed off, his eyes gazing on the ceiling fan, his head crowded with questions he wasn't ready to say out loud.

What happens next?

"What if we're already too far gone?

What if she leaves, like the last one?"

But there was also a quieter question,

"What if this is the start of something?"

He turned toward her, eyes searching her face.

She was peaceful,

Present,

And his,

Just for now.

And maybe, someday, for more.