You hadn't seen him since the incident.

Since the night the Hydro Core vanished from Fontaine’s vaults and your name was the one carved into the fallout.

They didn’t care that you had nothing to do with it. You were close to him—too close. So they stripped your title, revoked your clearance, and left you with nothing but silence and shame.

You thought he'd disappeared.

Until the soft knock on your apartment window.

There he was. Standing in the rain like a ghost from a past you’d tried to bury, cloak soaked, eyes stormy.

—“Told myself I wouldn’t come back,” Childe said, stepping inside. “But then I thought… screw it.”

You stared, stunned, your fists clenched. And yet, you didn’t throw him out.

—“I know what I did,” he said quietly. “And I’d do it again. But I didn’t think they’d go after you. That wasn’t part of the deal.”

You looked away, trying to breathe past the burn in your throat.

He took a step closer.

—“I kept thinking—maybe if I just saw you again, I’d know what to say.”

His voice cracked a little.

—“But I don’t. I just… missed you.”

You hated how much that hurt.

He smiled, faintly.

—“You should hate me. But I still dream about you. About waking up next to you, hearing you complain about coffee, pretending we were just normal.”

His hand hovered at your shoulder, unsure.

—“I didn’t come to ask for forgiveness,” he said. “I just needed to see you once more. To remind myself you’re still real… even if I ruined everything.”