Faithful Horizons

Chapter 2: Grace

The café smelled like fresh espresso and cinnamon, a sharp contrast to the cold air outside. Ethan hunched over his laptop in the corner, earbuds in but no music playing. He wasn't working; he just needed to feel like he was something. Anything to block out the noise in his head.

"Excuse me?"

Ethan blinked, looking up. It was her.

The girl from the fountain stood beside his table, a steaming cup of coffee in her hand and a soft smile on her face.

"Sorry to bother you," she said, her voice light and warm. "Is this seat taken?"

Ethan gestured vaguely to the empty chair across from him. "Uh, no. Go ahead."

She sat down, setting her coffee carefully on the table. Up close, she radiated that same calm energy that had struck him before, as if the chaos of the world didn't touch her. She pulled out a notebook from her bag, and he caught a glimpse of a worn Bible tucked under her arm. He smirked before he could stop himself.

"What's your name?" he asked, sounding more curious than he intended.

She looked up, her smile widening. "Grace. What's yours?"

"Ethan," he said flatly. His eyes flicked to the Bible. "Not to sound rude, but... do people even read that anymore?"

She laughed softly, unoffended. "More than you'd think."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Huh. I figured it was just something people kept on their shelves to, I don't know, look spiritual or whatever."

Grace shrugged. "Some do. But for me, it's more like ... a map in some way. Helps me find my way when I feel lost."

Ethan stared at her, unsure how to respond. The words hit him harder than he expected, but he quickly looked back at his screen, pretending not to care.

"Have you read the Bible before?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"No," he said, snorting. "And I never will. The thing's just a fairytale."

Grace smiled again, her expression thoughtful rather than offended. "A lot of people think that. But have you ever given it a chance?

Ethan opened his mouth to respond but found himself at a loss. He hadn't, not really. He'd always dismissed religion as outdated nonsense without a second thought.

"Can I ask you something?" he said instead, changing the subject.

"Sure."

"What made you believe all this?" he gestured towards her Bible. "Like... really, believe it?"

Grace's eyes softened. "So many things," she said, her voice warm. "But if I had to put it simply... I realized how much I needed God. Let me put it this way: God is like oxygen. You can't see him, but you can't live without him."

Ethan blinked at her, confused. Do Christians always have to talk in riddles?

"Does that make sense?" she asked gently.

"Yeah," he lied, quickly packing his laptop into his bag. "Uh, I gotta go."

"Oh, Okay!" she said, her smile unshaken. "Maybe I'll see you here again?"

"Yeah, maybe," Ethan muttered as he left, stepping into the cold air.

As Ethan sat in his bed he couldn't shake off the feeling that Grace's words had left him with.

A map. Was that really how people viewed the Bible?

He thought about all the times he had dismissed religion as a crutch for the weak-minded, but Grace's words had struck a chord within him. 

A/N:

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