Until We Become Ourselves by Claire Ashworth

He orders the same coffee every morning at 8:05 — no sugar, no words, no exceptions. She's the barista who's learned exactly how he takes it, and exactly how not to want more.

Chloe came to London to disappear. Jamie built a life out of control, precision, and silence. Neither of them is looking for anything real.

But somewhere between the pie he didn't order and the smile he wasn't supposed to give her, silence starts to feel like something else. He teaches her that being "put back together without the instructions" isn't broken — it's just different. She teaches him that letting someone in doesn't have to mean losing yourself.

Then a name shows up on his phone that he never explained — and Chloe has to decide whether the life he's finally letting her into is the one he's actually choosing, or just the one that's easiest right now.

Until We Become Ourselves is a slow-burn, emotionally raw contemporary romance about two guarded people learning that love isn't the absence of fear — it's staying anyway.