chapter 5 : Soft Moment

The days continued to pass, each one seemingly more similar to the last, and yet for Ethan, they all felt different. There was a shift in the air between him and Noah—something subtle, almost imperceptible, but undeniable. Each time Ethan walked into the bookstore, it felt like the weight of the world outside faded just a little bit more.

And every time Noah smiled—albeit quietly—it felt like a small victory.

It wasn’t as if the tension was gone. No, it simmered just beneath the surface, thick and heavy like a storm waiting to break. But for now, they were both content to let it hang in the air, neither willing to rush forward or retreat.

One night, after a particularly long day of interviews and photoshoots, Ethan found himself standing outside the bookstore, his breath misting in the cold air. The storm had passed, but the streets still held the dampness of the rain, the world shrouded in a quiet, almost serene calm.

He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open. The soft bell jingled above him, signaling his arrival, but Noah didn’t look up immediately. Instead, he was bent over a stack of books, his focus entirely on arranging them in some precise order only he understood.

Ethan watched him for a beat, a small smile playing on his lips. There was something peaceful about the way Noah moved, so deliberate and calm. It was a stark contrast to the chaos of Ethan’s life, where everything was calculated, controlled, and always on display.

Noah finally looked up, catching Ethan’s gaze. That familiar flicker of recognition, that moment of connection, passed between them.

“You look like you could use a break,” Noah said, his voice low, almost teasing.

Ethan smiled, a little surprised at the observation. “You’re not wrong,” he said, walking up to the counter. “You always seem to know exactly what I need.”

Noah’s eyes softened, though there was a hint of something else in them—a quiet vulnerability that Ethan had started to notice more and more in the past few days. It was as if, in the moments when they didn’t speak, Noah’s walls slowly crumbled, just a little.

“Maybe I just pay attention,” Noah said quietly, a soft smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Ethan leaned against the counter, the words that had been swirling in his head for days suddenly on the tip of his tongue. But this time, for the first time, he didn’t hesitate.

“I’m not really good at… letting people in,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

Noah raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. “Isn’t that kind of your job? Letting people see you?”

Ethan shook his head, the weight of the years spent living under the microscope pressing down on him. “I mean, really letting them in. Behind all the pictures, all the headlines… I’ve never been good at trusting people with the real me.”

There was a long silence between them. For a moment, Noah didn’t say anything. He simply regarded Ethan with those soft, steady eyes, as if weighing his words carefully.

“Maybe that’s why you keep coming back here,” Noah said, his voice thoughtful. “Because here, you don’t have to be anyone else.”

Ethan looked up, meeting his gaze directly for the first time. The weight of those words hit him like a wave, and for the first time, he felt something shift deep inside.

Maybe Noah was right. Maybe it wasn’t just the books or the quiet that kept him coming back. Maybe it was because, in this small, dimly lit bookstore, he didn’t have to be Ethan Hayes, the movie star. He could just be Ethan.

For a long time, he had forgotten what that even felt like.

Ethan exhaled a shaky breath, unsure of what to say next. But before he could gather his thoughts, Noah did something that caught him completely off guard.

He reached across the counter, his hand brushing against Ethan’s in a fleeting moment of contact. It was so brief, yet it felt like an electric jolt, something far more intimate than the physical touch suggested.

Ethan’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly pulled his hand back, his mind racing. But Noah didn’t seem fazed. Instead, he gave a small, almost imperceptible nod, as though acknowledging the quiet understanding that had passed between them.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to be anyone else here,” Noah said softly, his voice a little more vulnerable than usual.

Ethan’s chest tightened at the sincerity in his words. Without thinking, he stepped closer, just a little, as if pulled by some invisible force. “I know,” he whispered. “I don’t think I ever have to be.”

For a moment, they simply stood there, the quiet of the bookstore enveloping them in a cocoon of shared understanding. Neither of them said anything more, but neither moved away. The distance between them had closed, imperceptibly, but it was there—something real, something fragile.

Ethan knew that there was still so much they hadn’t said, so much unspoken between them. But for the first time, he wasn’t afraid of it. Not here. Not with Noah.

And Noah, with his calm, unassuming nature, wasn’t pulling away either.

It felt like the first step toward something he couldn’t yet name.

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To Be Continued…

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