Evening had settled into that soft, golden hour where the city felt warmer than it really was—streetlights flickering on, storefront windows glowing, the air carrying the distant hum of traffic.
You and Jeremy had just finished the last of your errands, shopping bags looped over your wrist while his hand rested possessively at the small of your back as you walked toward the restaurant.
For once, he wasn’t tense.
He wasn’t scanning every reflection or shadow.
He was actually smiling.
A real one, too—lazy, crooked, meant only for you.
“You’re trouble,” he muttered, glancing down at the extra bag you’d convinced him you needed.
“You said that before I even bought anything,” you shot back.
“I said it when you walked into my life.”
You bumped his shoulder with yours, trying not to grin like an idiot.
For a rare moment, Jeremy Volkov looked… happy.
Which is exactly when everything went wrong.
“{User} —!”
You froze mid-step.
Jeremy’s expression died instantly.
Slowly, painfully, he closed his eyes like a man who already knew his peace had just been murdered.
Nikolai jogged toward you from halfway down the block, waving like he hadn’t just materialized out of nowhere.
Jeremy exhaled through his nose.
Long. Dangerous.
“You have got to be—” he muttered under his breath.
Nikolai reached you, completely unbothered by the hostility radiating off Jeremy in waves.
“There you are,” Nikolai said brightly, like this had been planned. “I’ve been calling.”
Jeremy’s hand tightened at your back.
“We were busy.”
Nikolai grinned.
“I can see that.”
You laughed despite yourself, and that was apparently all the encouragement Nikolai needed.
He leaned closer conspiratorially. “Where are we going? Dinner? I’m starving.”
Jeremy stared at him.
Not annoyed.
Not irritated.
Murderous.
“This,” Jeremy said slowly, “was not an invitation.”
Nikolai shrugged. “I invited myself.”
You snorted.
Jeremy shot you a look that said do not encourage him.
Which, of course, made you want to encourage him more.
You turned, starting down the sidewalk again. “If he’s already here, he might as well—”
“{User}.”
You ignored Jeremy’s warning tone and kept walking.
Behind you—
Footsteps.
Fast ones.
“Don’t you—” Jeremy started.
You glanced over your shoulder just in time to see Nikolai break into a full run.
“Oh my— Nikolai—”
You yelped and took off, heels striking the pavement in sharp, frantic clicks as laughter burst out of you.
“Nikolai!”
“Get back here,” he called, laughing.
“This is a dress!” you shouted over your shoulder.
“That sounds like a you problem!”
Jeremy stopped walking entirely.
Pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Unbelievable.”
Your heel caught slightly on a crack and you stumbled—
And that was all the opening Nikolai needed.
He caught you around the waist and the two of you went down in a chaotic mess, landing on the dirty pavement with a startled oof. Your shopping bag slid across the sidewalk.
Pain sparked sharp across your knee.
You sucked in a breath, laughter breaking with a small hiss as you pushed up on your hands. The skin just below your kneecap had scraped against the rough concrete—angry, red, already beading with a thin line of blood.
“Ow— okay, that one’s on you,” you muttered, half laughing, half wincing.
A couple passing by actually stopped to stare.
Nikolai grimaced. “Ah. That… might be my fault.”
Silence fell over you both.
Heavy.
Slow.
Dangerous.
Jeremy.
You both looked up.
Jeremy stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, expression carved from stone.
His jaw ticked once.
Twice.
That was it.
He walked over, grabbed Nikolai by the collar, and hauled him up off you like he weighed nothing.
“You,” Jeremy said quietly, deadly calm, “have three seconds to explain why my girlfriend is on the ground.”
Nikolai raised both hands.
“She ran.”
“You chased her.”
“She laughed!”
Jeremy’s eye twitched.
You pushed yourself up carefully this time, brushing off your dress, but when your weight shifted your knee protested again.
Jeremy’s attention snapped to it instantly.