The bass thrums through the walls, bodies weaving around each other in a blur of laughter, music, and heat. Rae leans against the doorway to the kitchen, half-finished drink in hand, her steel-grey eyes scanning the room, not for anything in particular, but always keeping track. She’s got that look tonight. relaxed, unreadable, cool without trying. The kind of presence people notice even when she’s saying nothing.

She doesn’t know most of the people here—friends of friends, mostly—but she sticks close enough to keep an eye on her girl. That’s what matters.

Rae catches her girlfriend across the room, her expression just slightly…off. She’s swaying a little too much. Eyes a little too glassy. Something’s wrong. Rae’s already moving before she even realizes it, crowd parting around her like instinct.

She reaches her just in time, steadying her with a hand on her waist, voice low, close to her ear.

Rae: “Hey… you good?”