It wasn't supposed to be just them.
Sunny got distracted.
Zane got pulled into a call.
Axel was at rehearsal.
Laura had therapy.
Which somehow left Amelia standing outside a production supply store with Theo.
Just Theo.
He checks his watch.
"We'll be efficient."
She squints at him.
"Wow. That's romantic."
He ignores that.
"We need lighting filters and the replacement mic cable."
"Thrilling."
They walk inside.
Silence.
She fills it instantly.
"So. You excited?"
"For cables?"
"For bonding."
He glances at her.
"I was unaware that was the objective."
"That's because you don't read subtext."
"I read contracts."
She snorts.
They reach the lighting aisle.
He starts comparing specifications.
She leans against a shelf.
"You think I'm annoying, don't you?"
He pauses mid-scan.
"That's abrupt."
"Answer."
He considers it seriously.
"No."
She blinks.
"…No?"
"You are efficient in social environments."
"That's not the same thing."
"It is," he replies calmly. "You control energy shifts before they destabilize."
She straightens slightly.
"That's… a weirdly specific compliment."
"It's observational."
She stares at him.
"You don't think I'm loud?"
"You are loud."
"Rude."
"It is not inherently negative."
She narrows her eyes.
"You're very rigid."
"I am structured."
"Same thing."
"It is not."
She rolls her eyes, but she's smiling.
They move toward the register.
Silence settles again.
This time she doesn't fill it immediately.
Then—
"I talk because silence makes me nervous."
He looks at her properly now.
"That is unexpected."
"Don't make it weird."
"I am not."
She shrugs.
"If I'm talking, I'm controlling the room. If I'm controlling the room, I know what's happening."
He nods once.
"That makes sense."
She studies him.
"You don't get nervous in silence?"
"No."
"Of course you don't."
He adjusts the receipt in his hand.
"I prefer it."
"That tracks."
They step outside.
It's not awkward anymore.
Just… level.
"You're good at what you do," he says suddenly.
She freezes.
"With social instinct," he clarifies. "You notice things others miss."
She blinks.
"That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"It is simply accurate."
She smiles slowly.
"And you're not as stiff as you pretend."
"I do not pretend."
"You do."
He exhales through his nose.
"Perhaps."
She nudges his arm lightly as they walk back.
"You're kind of growing on me."
"That was not the objective."
"It never is."
For once—
she doesn't rush ahead.
Doesn't fill space.
Doesn't perform.
And he doesn't feel the need to correct her energy.
They just walk.
Balanced.
Unexpectedly aligned.
And when they return to the studio—
Amelia doesn't announce anything dramatic.
She just hands Sunny the lighting filters and says,
"Theo's not that bad."
Theo doesn't correct her.
Which, for him,
is practically a confession.