Getty ImagesWe should have felt this romance coming.
Selena Gomez and The Weeknd may have seemed like a match made out of nowhere when photos recently emerged of them smooching on the street. After all, the "Same Old Love" singer had spent the majority of 2016 out of the spotlight while the "Starboy" was in the midst of an on-and-off relationship with supermodel Bella Hadid.
However, upon deeper observation, it seems the 24-year-old songstress was never out of the question for the Grammy winner.
"Abel though always had a thing for Selena," one source dished to E! News. "He thinks she is extremely talented and sexy. They recently started talking before the holidays, but she has been on his radar before."
If you listen closely, it sounds like The Weeknd subtly made his physical affections for the star known long before they stepped out together. In the track "Party Monster" off of his third studio album, he references an "a-- like Selena." Could he have been singing about the "Hands to Myself" star? The jury is still out.
Meanwhile, their chemistry took center stage more than a year earlier when they were both the evening's performers at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2015. At a point, The Weeknd bowed down to Gomez while the crowd cheered—an eyebrow-raising exchange in hindsight.
Then, of course, there's their physical proximity. As researchers have noted, people tend to fall for those closest to them and Selena and The Weeknd have never been too far apart as far as Hollywood social circles are concerned.
Gomez and Bella's sister, Gigi Hadid, are both members of Taylor Swift's bonafide girl squad, having starred in the music video for "Bad Blood" together. The ladies have all hung out on occasion, which makes us believe it would have been easy for Gomez and The Weeknd to cross paths outside of their related professions.
At their core, the two are obviously compatible. As twentysomething musicians, they both understand what it means to be the most in-demand artists in their industry and simultaneously navigate the murky personal waters that the job creates. Plus, they'll have each other to serenade.
"Right now, it's like a good song turns me on way more," The Weeknd recently told GQ. "Like, that gets me horny, like, literally gets me horny."
On social media, we're already seeing a bit of fallout as Bella swiftly hit "Unfollow" on Selena's Instagram account following the couple's date night.
While the two women were never exactly BFFs, as Gomez knows all too well, the heart just wants what it wants. For now, though, the pair are taking things one step at a time.
"They are on the same level with expectations and think each other are really fun," the source added. "They are taking things slow and getting to know each other."