No one saw it coming. Not even the most devoted Days of Our Lives fans. But in the middle of parental crises, kidnappings, and lingering heartbreak, the show just cracked open a door that might lead to something completely unexpected—and entirely explosive. Could Gabi Hernandez and Xander Cook be Salem’s next couple?

At first glance, it seems absurd. Gabi can’t stand Xander. She’s called him insufferable, arrogant, even toxic. And Xander? He’s barely had a kind word for her. But this week’s scenes showed something shift. Not dramatically, not all at once—but in the way all soap love stories begin: reluctantly, emotionally, and against every instinct.

It began with work—well, kind of. Xander, flustered and overwhelmed, struggled to juggle his Titan duties while caring for baby Victoria. Gabi walked in expecting the usual friction. Instead, she found a man nearly broken by stress, clutching his crying daughter with desperation in his eyes. Without hesitation, Gabi scooped Victoria into her arms and calmed her instantly. Her touch was natural, maternal. Xander watched, stunned.

What followed wasn’t a fight. It was a conversation. A real one. Gabi shared her own experience being separated from Arianna Grace, the loneliness, the helplessness, the fear of missing her daughter’s milestones. Xander, usually so guarded, listened. And for once, he didn’t fight back. He heard her.

Then came the twist. Gabi told Xander, gently, that Victoria was simply at that age where she craved her mother. That statement—so ordinary, yet so loaded—hit Xander like a punch to the chest. His stubbornness, his ongoing war with Sarah, his insistence on controlling everything suddenly cracked. And Gabi saw it. In his silence. In the way he looked away. She didn’t push. She didn’t gloat. She just… understood.

And that may have been the moment something changed.

Gabi has never been the type to play damsel. She doesn’t fall for broken men—she outmaneuvers them. But Xander is different now. Softer. More vulnerable. And Gabi, still recovering from her own emotional wreckage, might be the only person in Salem right now who can reach him.

And then, just as the tension began to rise, tragedy struck: Arianna Grace was kidnapped.

Suddenly, Gabi’s walls collapsed. She was no longer the CEO, the fighter, the survivor. She was just a mother—terrified, desperate, raw. And it wasn’t JJ who came to comfort her. It wasn’t Chad or Rafe. It was Xander.

The same man she swore she couldn’t stand… became her anchor.

He didn’t fix it. He didn’t save Arianna. But he was there. Quiet. Present. And when she broke down, he didn’t walk away.

The setup is classic soap—but it’s also deeply earned. Xander’s own guilt over keeping Victoria from Sarah has him emotionally cracked. Gabi’s grief over Arianna’s disappearance has shattered her usual armor. What begins as shared sorrow could soon twist into shared solace—and maybe something more.

And let’s not forget: this isn’t the first time Gabi has flipped the script. She’s gone from enemies to lovers before. She thrives in chaotic connections. But this one? This could be different. Because if she’s the one who helps Xander see he’s hurting his daughter, and if he’s the one who stands by her through the search for Ari, their bond might be stronger than either of them ever expected.

And what about Sarah? Or JJ? Or Arianna herself? Days of Our Lives doesn’t forget history. But it also doesn’t shy away from shaking up the future.

So now the question looms: is Gabi softening… or falling? Is Xander waking up… or shifting loyalties?

One thing is certain—whatever is forming between them won’t stay quiet for long.

Would you be here for Gabi and Xander as a couple—or should they stay sworn enemies?