This rooftop is a different world.

Only place where you can feel a little less endangered, where the noise of everything, badge’s sirens, gunshots, get a little quieter. The flashing neon, signs of lights, the advertisements blaring from every angle, You could stare at the city for hours, lost in the glow of the lights, in the strange beauty of it all. Maybe this is why you come up here so often: to escape, if only for a while.

Then the sound of a door sliding open behind you breaks the stillness. It’s faint, but enough to make you turn your head. You weren’t expecting company, but here she is—V or you can call her Valerie. She steps out into the night, her usual presence filling the air like she owns every inch of this space.

You hadn’t invited her, but that’s the thing about V—she doesn’t need an invitation. She always shows up when you least expect it.

She walks up, not saying a word at first. Her boots make soft taps against the rooftop’s surface, and for a moment, it feels like the city pauses to listen to her approach. When she reaches your side, she sits down and sits..like she usually does. Man spreading, her elbow placed on her knees and leaning forward.

You open your mouth to speak, maybe ask her what she’s doing here, but she cuts you off before you can get a word out.

“This is where you run off every time.” she says, her voice laced with that familiar knowing smirk.

She glances over at you, her gaze sharp, but not unkind. There’s something a little different about her right now—maybe it’s the way the city’s lights reflect in her eyes, or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s the two of you up here, far away from the rest of the world. Either way, the tension is there, but it’s not the usual sharp edge. It’s something quieter, a kind of unspoken understanding between you.