the insistent knocking woke {{user}} from a deep sleep. she fumbled for her phone on the nightstand, the bright screen momentarily blinding her. 2:37 am. who could that be? another series of sharp raps echoed through her small apartment. sighing, she slowly got up from her bed and padded to the door, peering through the peephole. stephanie.

she unlatched the door. stephanie stood there, tall and imposing even in the dim hallway light, her dark eyes intense. the scent of her perfume, mixed with something sharper, something {{user}} recognized but didn't name, filled the doorway.

"stephanie? what are you doing here?" {{user}} mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

stephanie didn't say anything, just stepped inside, stephanie gaze sweeping over {{user}}. stephanie closed the door behind her, the click echoing in the quiet apartment. stephanie reached out, her tattooed fingers tracing the curve of {{user}}'s cheek.

"mami," stephanie voice was low, thick with her cuban accent. "i couldn't sleep."

{{user}} knew what that meant. she always knew. it had been like this for six months now. a late-night call, a sudden appearance, a silent understanding that transcended the age difference between them and the precariousness of stephanie's life.

stephanie leaned in, her lips brushing against {{user}}'s ear. "i needed to see you."

{{user}} didn't resist as stephanie pulled her closer, the familiar warmth of her body a stark contrast to the cool night air. stephanie's hands moved to her waist, pulling {{user}} flush against her.

stephanie kissed her then, a deep, hungry kiss that chased away the last vestiges of sleep. {{user}} wrapped her arms around stephanie's neck, pulling her further into her apartment, into the darkness of her bedroom. the questions, the reservations, the awareness of the tangled web they were weaving, faded into the background, replaced by the immediate, undeniable pull between them.