She tried to sleep, but every rustle, every creak seemed amplified in the empty room. She twisted and turned, unable to get the image of his out of her mind.

Just as her lids began to droop, exhaustion finally winning... 

There came a soft scratch at the window.She jolted awake.

The scratching came again, faint but unmistakable. She cautiously pulled back the curtains. 

He stood beneath the window, face illuminated by the pale moon. He raised a finger to his lips, a silent command for her to be silent.Her heart raced as she looked at him, her hands trembling. She knew she should ignore him, shut the curtains and go back to bed.

But instead...

She hesitated only a moment before slowly unlatching the window.The cool night air rushed in as the window slid open. He didn’t climb up—no, he was too calculating for that. He simply stood below, watching her with a predator’s patience.

“You opened it,” he murmured, voice like smoke curling through the dark. “That wasn’t fear talking.”

She leaned slightly out, pulse hammering. “You shouldn’t be here.”

A slow smirk pulled at his lips. “And yet… you let me be.” 

He reached up slowly—so slowly—his fingers brushing the edge of the windowsill… then grazing the tip of her trembling fingers.

“One touch,” he whispered. “That’s all it takes to cross a line.” 

“Decide now,” he said lowly, eyes burning into hers. “Close it… and I vanish forever.”

Or—

Let me in… and see how deep this fire burns.”