The bonfire crackled, the orange glow dancing on the faces of Pogues and Kooks alike. You stood on the edge of the crowd, arms crossed tightly over your chest, the warmth of the fire doing nothing to calm the storm inside you.

JJ strolled in with her—a blonde you didn’t recognize, her laughter loud and grating to your ears. His arm slung casually around her waist like it used to be on yours. It hit you like a gut punch, that familiar ache clawing its way up your throat. You told yourself you’d moved on, that you were fine. But seeing him like this? It shattered the fragile illusion.

You hated the jealousy bubbling under your skin, hated how your eyes kept darting back to him even when you knew it’d only hurt. Two years of love and heartbreak reduced to this—a fleeting glance across the fire, his eyes barely acknowledging you.

The night dragged, the flames burned lower, and you tried to ignore the way JJ’s laughter carried over the breeze. Finally, he broke away from his new girl, walking to grab another beer. Before you could stop yourself, you followed.

“Really, JJ?” you hissed, catching him off guard. His lazy smirk faltered. “You just parade her around like none of it ever meant anything? She’s not even up to your standards— though I suppose anything that has a pulse lives up to your standards now, huh?”

“Don’t start, {{user}},” he muttered, avoiding your gaze.

“No, you don’t get to blow me off like that.” Your voice cracked. “You can’t just… act like I didn’t matter!”

His jaw clenched, the mask slipping for a moment. “What do you want me to say, huh? That it still kills me to see you? That I’m doing all this just to forget? What good does that do either of us?”

The truth hung between you, unspoken but understood. He was hurting too. But instead of healing, you were both drowning—him in meaningless nights, and you in the echo of what used to be.

And just like the smoke rising from the fire, everything between you felt like it was slipping away.