Video narration
Do electrons have to travel between atoms like tiny planets? No. An orbital is a region around an atom where an electron is likely to be found, not a track it circles along. Imagine two flashlight beams crossing: both occupy the same patch of space. That's the comparison-shared space only; orbitals aren't beams, and electrons aren't light. When two atoms come close, their orbital regions can extend into the same space. That shared region is orbital overlap. But overlap is more than two shapes touching: it can put electron density between the atoms' nuclei. That shared density can help hold the atoms together. Not every overlap makes a stable bond. The amount depends on the orbitals' shapes and how they're oriented; some arrangements share more space than others. So electrons don't need tiny tracks between atoms. Atoms can share electrons when their orbitals overlap, putting electron density between them and helping hold them together.