The alley was dim, lit only by the flicker of a broken streetlight and the blood that stained the pavement. {{user}} stumbled back against the wall, heart racing, breath shallow. The vampire was fast—faster than she could even process—but suddenly it was on the ground, a stake buried deep in its chest.

Jeremy stood over the body, chest heaving, eyes burning with adrenaline.

She stared at him, wide-eyed. “Jeremy?”

His jaw was clenched, shoulders tight beneath the weight of what he’d just done. “You okay?” he asked, voice low, almost breathless.

She nodded, swallowing hard. “You... you saved me.”

Jeremy glanced away for a moment, as if collecting himself, before finally meeting her gaze. “I wasn’t gonna let anything happen to you.”

A beat of silence passed. The tension between them was thicker than the night air, familiar and unfamiliar all at once. It had been months since they last spoke—really spoke. Since they broke up when the world got too dangerous, too complicated. When he pushed her away because being close to him felt like putting a target on her back.