The morning light spilled into the room, pale and thin like a memory you can't quite place.
Ava stared at the ceiling, the hum of the city outside muted but constant. Her fingers still clutched the edges of the photo from last night, now sitting on the nightstand beside her. The ink was smudged slightly from the dampness of her skin. The faces—her father, the stranger—stared back at her, almost like they were waiting for something.
A knock at the door broke her trance.
"Yeah?" she called out, her voice rough from hours of restlessness.
Eli's silhouette appeared in the doorway, looking both casual and out of place all at once. His shirt was wrinkled, hair tousled, but there was an odd steadiness in his eyes, something she hadn't seen before.
"You alright?" he asked, his voice low, careful.
Ava sat up, her legs crossed beneath her. "I'm fine."
He walked in without waiting for her invitation, taking a seat at the foot of the bed. "We need to talk about last night."
She raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the photo on the nightstand. "We don't know anything yet."
"That's the point. We don't know," Eli said, his tone serious, but his gaze softened when it met hers. "But we need to figure it out. Fast."
Ava paused, her mind churning. She wanted to ignore him, to shove all of this aside and pretend she hadn't just uncovered something big. Pretend she didn't feel the weight of her father's past closing in around her. But she couldn't. The pieces were there—just out of reach, taunting her with every breath.
"I know," she whispered.
They spent the next few hours mapping out what they knew. A vague photo. A sealed off maintenance tunnel. A man from her father's past, someone he had known well enough to stand beside in a picture. And those tire tracks from last night, fresh but fading too quickly.
Ava stared at the whiteboard Eli had set up in the corner of her living room. Names. Dates. Locations. All connected by one thing: Site W.
Her father's involvement in something bigger than just the land they'd planned to sell. Something tied to the construction project that had turned everything upside down.
Eli scratched at his stubbled chin. "We're missing something," he muttered. "There's gotta be a reason your dad kept this stuff hidden."
"Hidden?" Ava's voice cracked slightly as she looked up. "More like buried."
Eli's gaze softened again, his expression full of the same quiet understanding that had been there since the first night they met. "Whatever it is, we're going to find it. Together."
She nodded, though part of her still wanted to pull away, to keep him at arm's length. But something told her she couldn't do this alone. Not anymore.
Later that afternoon, they drove to the construction site. It loomed ahead like a reminder of everything she'd been trying to avoid, its skeletal structures rising from the ground like they were holding secrets in their steel beams.
Eli parked at the edge of the lot, out of sight from any security cameras. "We need to get inside. See the blueprints. Find any connections between the site and what we uncovered."
Ava hesitated, her fingers tightening around the door handle. "And what if someone's still watching?"
"We stay quiet," he said, sliding his sunglasses on. "If anyone sees us, we're just another pair of workers trying to get a look at the project. They won't care."
She didn't fully believe him, but she nodded anyway.
They moved through the site, ducking between piles of materials and half-built structures. The air smelled like wet concrete and metal, a constant reminder that things were still in progress—still unfinished.
Ava's heart raced. Every corner they turned felt like it could lead to a confrontation, and each step took her further into a past she wasn't sure she wanted to face. But it was too late to turn back now. Whatever her father had been involved in, it had already pulled her in. She could feel it tightening around her, like an invisible chain.
Eli led the way to the old storage shed where they'd found blueprints before. The door creaked as they pushed it open, the scent of dust and age mingling in the air.
The light inside flickered as they stepped in. The shed was crammed with old papers, boxes, and broken equipment. A few chairs and tables lay discarded in the corner, forgotten.
Ava scanned the room, her eyes falling on the pile of blueprints stacked neatly in the back. They were wrapped in plastic, yellowed at the edges.
Eli made his way over, peeling the plastic back with careful hands. "Here it is."
Ava moved closer, her fingers brushing over the large sheets of paper. The first set of blueprints was for the construction of the building that had gone up in the last year. The next set—well, that's where things got strange.
The second set showed designs that didn't match anything currently being built. The layout was different. There were hidden rooms, underground corridors that weren't even mentioned in the official reports. A map of the maintenance tunnels. And, scrawled in the margin, a date.
June 23, 1987.
That date hit Ava like a punch to the stomach. It was the year her father had disappeared. The year he'd pulled away from everything, disappearing without a trace. No one had ever really told her why.
"What the hell…" she whispered, tracing her finger along the lines of the blueprint. "This was here… all along."
Eli frowned, bending over to get a closer look. "Do you think your father was building this? Or was he part of something else? Someone else's plan?"
She swallowed hard, the weight of the discovery settling deep in her chest. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it's connected to that man in the photo."
Eli's hand landed on her shoulder, warm and steady. "We'll figure it out. But first, we need to get out of here. Before anyone catches us."
Ava nodded, reluctantly pulling away from the blueprints. They couldn't stay here. Not now. But her mind was already racing—thinking of all the things they still didn't know.
What was buried under Site W? And why had her father been so determined to hide it all?
As they made their way back toward the exit, Ava glanced over at Eli. For the first time in a long while, she didn't feel alone.
But the question lingered—Would she still feel the same when everything came to light? It was supposed to be quiet between them.
After the discovery, after the creeping silence of the construction site, after ducking under fences and slipping back into the car without a word… it should've been quiet.
But something about the stillness inside Eli's old truck felt different this time.
Ava sat with her knees pulled up, her hands tucked beneath her thighs like she was trying to anchor herself. Her mind was spiraling. Blueprints. Hidden rooms. Her father. That date. And Eli—sitting just inches away, his knuckles tight around the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road like it might offer answers if he stared long enough.
"Do you believe in fate?" she asked suddenly.
Eli blinked, thrown off by the question. "Uh… like, cosmic alignment and all that?"
"Not necessarily stars and signs." She leaned her head against the window. "Just… like everything's already written. And no matter what you do, you always end up where you were supposed to be."
He didn't answer right away. The truck rumbled beneath them, its engine a low growl on the quiet back road.
"I used to," he said eventually. "Then life happened."
Ava let out a small laugh—more exhale than sound. "Yeah. I get that."
The air between them turned heavier.
He glanced over. "What brought that up?"
She paused. "I think I was supposed to find that photo."
Eli didn't speak.
"And I think… maybe I was supposed to meet you too."
That made him turn his head. Just slightly. Enough to catch her eyes.
They didn't say anything else for a long moment.
Back at her apartment, the sun had dipped low behind the buildings, casting everything in a soft amber glow. Ava opened the windows, letting in the scent of warm concrete and something faintly floral from the park across the street.
Eli lingered near the door, half-turned like he wasn't sure if he should stay.
"You're thinking too loud," she said, toeing off her shoes.
"I don't want to crowd you."
She looked over her shoulder. "You're not."
He still hesitated. Then stepped in.
Ava walked to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water more out of habit than thirst. Her mind was a tangled web, every thread tied to her father's secrets—but somewhere in the center of it all, Eli kept showing up. Like gravity. Like inevitability.
He leaned against the wall, watching her. "You okay?"
"Not even close."
He smiled softly. "Same."
For a beat, they just existed—two people in the middle of something neither of them could name.
And then he said, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Ava placed the glass down, the sound delicate against the counter. "Not yet."
"Okay."
She crossed the room slowly, each step measured. When she stopped in front of him, they were just inches apart. "You know this is getting complicated, right?"
"Yeah."
"Not just the investigation. Us."
Eli's jaw twitched slightly. "I know."
She tilted her head, studying his expression. "You gonna run?"
"No."
"You sure?"
He stepped closer. "I've done a lot of running, Ava. But not from you."
Her breath caught—just a little. Enough for him to notice. His fingers brushed against her hand, featherlight, waiting for permission. When she didn't pull away, he took it as a sign.
And when he leaned in, it wasn't dramatic or urgent—it was careful. Honest. Like he didn't want to ruin whatever was growing between them, but couldn't stand leaving it untouched either.
Their lips met softly. No fireworks. No swelling music.
Just quiet.
Warm.
Real.
Later, they sat on the couch, a blanket thrown loosely over their legs, the hum of the city outside a distant echo.
"I think he was trying to protect something," Ava said, her voice barely above a whisper. "My dad. Not just hiding. But protecting."
Eli nodded, his arm resting behind her. "Whatever it was, someone didn't want it found."
"And now we're in it."
"Yeah."
She turned her head, resting her cheek against his chest. "Does it scare you?"
"Honestly? A little."
A pause.
"But being with you… scares me more."
Ava looked up, confused. "What?"
"I don't know what this is," Eli admitted. "I don't have a plan. I didn't mean to fall into any of this. But here I am. And I care about you more than I should for someone I met, what… a couple weeks ago?"
Her lips curved. "Sixteen days."
He laughed softly. "Sixteen days, and I already know the way your forehead creases when you're overthinking. I know you fake-laugh when you're trying to avoid crying. And I know you keep all the good cereal at the back of the cabinet so you don't eat it too fast."
Ava blinked. "You've been digging through my cabinets?"
"Only a little."
She smiled against him, something soft uncoiling in her chest.
It wasn't perfect. It wasn't neat. But maybe it didn't need to be.
The next morning came faster than either of them wanted.
Eli was already up, half-dressed and quietly sipping coffee by the window. Ava stirred beneath the blanket, squinting toward him.
"You're doing that thing again," she mumbled.
"What thing?"
"Thinking too loud."
He smiled. "You're not wrong."
Ava sat up, rubbing her eyes. "You gonna disappear?"
"Nope. Just… processing."
She padded over, stealing his mug and sipping from it without asking. He didn't mind.
"You still wanna do this?" he asked. "Keep digging?"
Ava looked at him, something fierce and fragile flickering behind her eyes. "We don't stop now. We're close."
Eli nodded.
Outside, the city was waking up. Cars honking. Dogs barking. Life going on like it always had.
But something had changed.
They weren't just chasing ghosts anymore.
Now, they were chasing the truth.
And each other.