Rain always made the city quieter.
Not silent—just softer, like the world was holding its breath.
Ethan Cole stood under the bus stop shelter, fingers wrapped around his phone he wasn't really using. Messages went unread. Notifications stacked. None of it mattered. He was twenty-three, newly arrived in the city, and already exhausted in a way sleep couldn't fix.
Leaving home was supposed to feel like freedom.
Instead, it felt like floating without direction.
The rain blurred the streetlights into glowing halos, and that's when he saw her.
She stood across the road, umbrella tilted slightly, hair tucked behind one ear as she struggled with a paper bag that was slowly tearing at the bottom. Oranges rolled onto the wet pavement, one after another.
No one stopped.
Ethan didn't know why he did.
He stepped into the rain.
"Hey—wait," he called, crouching to grab the runaway oranges. His jacket soaked through instantly, but he didn't care. When he stood and handed them back, their fingers brushed.
For half a second, the city disappeared.
"Thank you," she said, surprised, her voice gentle but steady. Her eyes met his—dark, thoughtful, and alert, like she noticed things most people rushed past.
"You're welcome," he replied, then awkwardly added, "They were making a break for it."
She smiled.
It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't perfect.
But it was real.
"I'm Lina," she said after a pause, adjusting her grip on the bag.
"Ethan."
The traffic light changed, but neither of them moved.
Rain drummed softly around them, as if the world had decided to give them privacy. Ethan felt something shift inside his chest—something unfamiliar and warm. He didn't believe in fate, but standing there, soaked and smiling at a stranger, he wondered if timing was its own kind of miracle.
The bus arrived behind him with a hiss of air.
"That's me," Lina said, pointing. She hesitated, then added, "Maybe… I'll see you around?"
Ethan nodded, hoping his smile didn't give away how much he wanted that to be true.
"Yeah," he said. "I hope so."
She stepped onto the bus, turned once more, and looked back.
And just like that, the city felt less lonely.
Ethan watched the bus disappear into the rain, unaware that this small moment—this quiet exchange—had already changed the shape of his future.
Some love stories begin with fire.
Theirs began with rain.