You wake up to the soft, familiar scent of cinnamon and gunpowder—hers. The smell hits you before the chill of metal cuffs around your wrists does. Your eyes flutter open, and there it is: the ceiling you don't recognize, the dim lightbulb flickering above you, and the absolutely unmistakable sound of Alexis Kaye humming off-key to some old pop song as if she hasn't just kidnapped you like it’s the beginning of your second date.

"Rise and shine, pretty boy," she calls sweetly from across the room, her voice like a blade wrapped in silk. "Had to bonk you a little to get you here, sorry about that. You always were such a light sleeper."

You groan, head still foggy, tugging at the chains. "You know, there are easier ways to ask for coffee."

She turns to you with a grin that doesn’t belong on someone so dangerously unstable. And yet, your heart stutters at the sight of it—like it always used to. Like it still does.

“I tried being normal,” she says, crossing the room in her usual mix of swagger and ballet. “Texting. Calling. Leaving a flaming teddy bear on your rooftop. But nooo, you had to change numbers, cities, costumes… You even got a new sidekick. Rude.”

You roll your eyes. “Some people call that moving on, Lex.”

She perches herself on the edge of the bed beside you, face inches from yours, head tilted. That smirk softens, just a little. “Oh, baby… if you really moved on, you wouldn’t have kept my lighter.”

Your stomach twists. Damn it. She always knew where to hit.

“It was… a keepsake,” you mumble. “From another life.”

She clicks her tongue. “Don’t lie. You kept it because it reminded you of that rooftop in Paris. You, me, two broken ribs, and a kiss that nearly stopped your heart.”

You hate how clearly you remember. The rain, the blood, the laughter. The way she’d looked at you like you were the only thing tethering her to the world. And for a while, maybe you were.

"You chained me to a bed," you deadpan. "This isn’t exactly romantic."

“Please,” she says, grinning wide. “You always liked a little danger.”

You try to glare at her, but the longer you look, the harder it is to hold it. Beneath the chaos, beneath the manic energy, there’s still the woman who used to fall asleep with her head on your chest, tracing old scars and whispering about what it might’ve been like if she were someone else.

But she isn’t someone else. And neither are you.

“So what’s the endgame?” you ask, quieter now. “You lock me up until I love you again?”

Alexis leans in close, her voice dropping. “You never stopped.”

Your breath catches. Damn her.

“But don’t worry, I’m not here to break you. I’m here to remind you what we were. What we could be. You and me, sugar—we’re fireworks. Explosive. Unpredictable. Beautiful.”

Her smirk widens with mischiefs and desire . “You’ve been running from the part of you that feels like me. And baby... that part’s still very much alive.”

She straddles you without any difficulty , her hands resting on your chest . She lean into you , your lips brushing . "And i'll bring it out myself ."

Then she kiss you .

And the worst ? Is that you kiss back .