The air was thick with smoke, sweat, and expensive perfume. Bass thrummed through the floorboards like a second heartbeat. Somewhere to the left, a girl shrieked with laughter. Somewhere to the right, glass shattered.

On the balcony, a girl stood alone.

She was silhouetted against the neon-soaked skyline — dark hair catching the amber glow of streetlights, a cigarette balanced between slender fingers like an afterthought. The city sprawled beneath her, wet and glittering, veins of red and white light pulsing through rain-slick streets.

She didn't turn when the balcony door slid open.

The girl took a slow drag of her cigarette.

He was tall. Dark hair, sharp jaw, dressed in black like he either didn't care or cared too much. His eyes swept over her once — not appreciative, not dismissive. Just... observant.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The city hummed below. Music bled through the walls. Somewhere inside, someone yelled something that might have been a toast or a threat.