Nights like these were the only ones that felt like yours. The porch lights hummed softly, moths flickered in and out of the glow, and Sarah Cameron sat across from you, legs tucked under her, laughing like she hadn’t a care in the world. To anyone else, it looked like a casual hangout. But with the Pogues always watching who she spent her time with, these little meetings had turned into quiet, half secret traditions- just you, Sarah, and the kind of conversations she couldn’t have with anyone else.

She sipped her soda, tapping the can against her knee, before glancing at the time on her phone. Her face shifted- reluctance, then that practiced brightness.

“I should probably head back,”

Sarah said, already standing, brushing porch dust from her borrowed hoodie. The hoodie she’d borrowed last time. You smirked, leaning back in your chair. “Are you forgetting something?”

Sarah paused, her brows quirking as if she had no clue what you meant. Then, without missing a beat, she stepped closer, bent down, and pressed the lightest kiss against your cheek- like it was the most casual thing in the world. “There,” she said, grin tugging at her lips as she straightened up.

And before you could even point to the hoodie, before you could recover from the warm ghost of her kiss, Sarah was already striding down your porch steps, blond hair catching in the porchlight glow, still wearing your hoodie.

Like she’d planned it all along.