The rhythmic hum of the train echoed through the carriage as Evelyn watched the raindrops race down the window. The world outside blurred into shades of gray and gold as the sun began to set, casting a soft glow over the countryside.
She had always loved train rides—the way they felt like a pause in time, a place between where you had been and where you were going. But this journey was different. This time, she wasn’t just traveling.
She was running away.
From what, she wasn’t sure. Maybe from the life she had carefully built but never truly loved. Maybe from the feeling of being stuck.
Or maybe… from him.
Ethan.
She exhaled, shaking her head. No. She wasn’t going to think about him. Not now. Not when she was already miles away from the city they had once called theirs.
But then—
A shadow moved in the reflection of the window. A familiar figure. A heartbeat later, a voice she knew better than her own filled the quiet space between them.
“Evelyn.”
Her breath caught. Slowly, she turned.
And there he was.
Ethan stood in the aisle, his coat damp from the rain, his dark hair slightly tousled like he had been running. His chest rose and fell as if he had barely caught the train in time.
She stared at him, unable to form words.
Finally, he let out a breathless chuckle. “You really thought you could leave without saying goodbye?”
Evelyn swallowed hard. “I—”
But she didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
Because the truth was, she had left because of him. Because staying meant facing what she had been too afraid to say.
Ethan sat down across from her, his eyes searching hers. “I know why you left.”
She blinked. “You do?”
He nodded, leaning forward, resting his forearms on the table between them. “You think if you run far enough, you’ll stop feeling this.”
Evelyn’s fingers curled against her lap. “And what is ‘this’?”
Ethan gave her a small, knowing smile. “What we both knew the moment we met.”
Silence stretched between them, filled only by the steady hum of the train.
Then—
He reached into his pocket and pulled out something small. A folded train ticket.
Evelyn frowned. “What is that?”
He slid it across the table. “It’s the ticket I bought before I saw you boarding.”
She hesitated before picking it up. And then she saw it.
The destination was the same as hers.
Her breath hitched. “Ethan…”
He ran a hand through his hair, his voice softer now. “I don’t know where you’re going, Evelyn. But I know one thing for sure.”
She swallowed. “What’s that?”
He exhaled, holding her gaze like he was afraid she’d disappear. “Wherever it is—I want to go with you.”
Her heart pounded in her chest, drowning out the sound of the train wheels against the tracks.
She had spent so much time running.
But maybe, just maybe, she had been running toward the wrong thing all along.
Slowly, she reached across the table, her fingers brushing his.
And for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel lost.
She felt found.
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