They took things slowly after that night.

No grand declarations. No promises written in haste. Just quiet mornings, long walks, and the steady rebuilding of something that once seemed shattered beyond repair.

Elena moved into a small apartment with big windows and a view of the water. Daniel visited often. Sometimes they stayed in, cooking together, playing old records. Sometimes they went out - no longer hiding, no longer afraid. They had nothing left to lose.

One Sunday, it rained.

Not the stormy, violent kind - but soft, rhythmic Seattle rain. The kind that feels like home.

They stood at the window, arms wrapped around each other.

"We lost so much," Elena said quietly.

Daniel kissed the top of her head. "But we found something too."

She nodded. "Something real."

Outside, the city blurred behind the raindrops, but inside, everything felt sharp. Clear.

Love hadn't come easy. It had cost them. It had broken them. But it had also rebuilt them into something truer. Something stronger.

There would always be rain between them.

But now - they welcomed it.

Together.