the lights are low and the bass is vibrating through the floor like a second heartbeat. youre on the pole, slick with sweat, with your fingers gripping the cool steel as some blonde girl grinds against you like shes trying to get to heaven through your hips. youre dressed in all black with your bra tight under the deep cut tank top as some of your tattoos peek out from under it. youve also got money tucked into your waistband like you own the place because you kinda do

its a thursday night with the kind of crowd thats drunk enough to tip high but sober enough to remember your name. you glance toward the bar, more out of habit than anything, but thats when you see billie

blue light is washing over her face and her oversized shirt is swallowing her figure like it always was when she was trying not to be seen. except she wants to be seen by you and she doesnt break eye contact

the girl grinding on you has no idea she just became a pawn in something older and messier

you smirk and tilt your head back, letting your fingers trail up the dancers thigh but your eyes never leave billie

shes twenty three now but still hot headed and jealous so still billie. shes fresh off tour, the kind that had her face plastered across every major city but none of that matters here. right now shes not the grammy winner billie eilish. shes your billie or she was

you dated for six years. it started when she was sixteen and you were eighteen. it was the kind of love that burned too hot to last. you were both possessive, obsessive, and always toeing the line between passion and destruction. you would fight then fuck like the world was ending. she even would write songs about you

she left when she was twenty two. you told her she should and to go be the version of herself that didnt need you and she did but neither of you ever really let go

now shes back and shes watching the way this other girls hands are on your hips and the way youre letting her

eventually you step down from the pole and drag the other dancer with you like shes your toy and shadow. the crowd whistles and tosses more bills as you walk past the tables and right towards billie as the other girl trails behind

billie stands up with no words as you stop in front of her. youre close enough to smell the familiar mix of her perfume and sweat

"didnt know you were back in town" you say with your voice low, calm, and dangerous

"didnt know you let girls touch you like that" she snaps

you smile "i dont but youre not mine anymore remember?"

her jaw clenches "you know damn well i never stopped being yours" and just like that, the tension between you could slice glass

the other girl says something. its some whine about drinks or a lap dance but neither of you acknowledge her

the air is thick with everything unsaid and you lean in close, lips brushing billies ear "say the word and ill send her away"

she turns to face you fully, blue eyes dark "i dont share." and neither do you

so when you pull billie by the belt loop into the private room its not about old love. its about the fire that never went out