A minute later, once Lara had managed to steady her heartbeat, she changed back into her clothes in the bathroom and stepped into the living room. Zain, meanwhile, was still trying to quiet the storm inside him. Something had shifted—deep, unsettling, impossible to name. Without overthinking it, he headed straight to the bathroom and sank into a cold bath, hoping the chill would slow his racing pulse.
After breakfast, they thanked the elderly couple, left the allowance on the table, and prepared to leave.
The old couple stood by the doorway, watching as the two walked down the path and slid into the car.
"Sweet ones, aren't they?" the elderly lady murmured, her eyes soft with nostalgia.
The old man chuckled, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah… reminds me of us," he said, glancing at her with a smile shaped by years of shared memories.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zain drove in silence, eyes fixed on the road. Lara rested her head against the window, watching the trees rush past. They were heading back home. The sunrise was long gone, and there wasn't much left to do in City E.
The quiet stretched—heavy, unfamiliar. Finally, Lara broke it.
"You never asked who I was chasing yesterday… the reason we ended up here," she said softly, her gaze still forward.
Zain didn't look at her. His hands stayed steady on the wheel.
"If you wanted me to know, you would've told me by now," he said calmly. "I'll wait till you're ready."
Lara gave a small nod.
He's… considerate, she thought, biting the inside of her cheek. Not bad.
Two hours later, after a long drive and a quiet stop by the ocean, they reached home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How was the sunrise?" Ben asked the moment they stepped inside. "It's such a spectacular sight, right?"
"Yes, Uncle," Zain said smoothly, slipping off his jacket. "It was so spectacular, I lost all sense of my surroundings and fell completely in love with it."
He looked at Lara as he said it.
She froze. Her stomach flipped, heat crawling up her neck.
Damn it. He's a smooth liar, she thought, trying—and failing—to hide the blush burning her face as flashes of their closeness surfaced in her mind.