Run: 2026-02-19-01KHSZ0GFSXW9WHPG9FX4Z5807

"Rory?" Lucien's voice cracked ever so slightly, the vulnerability in his amber and black eyes on full display. Ptolemy, the tabby cat, meowed softly, brushing against his tailored charcoal suit, seeming to sense the tension in the air. "Lucien. What are you doing here?" Aurora's bright blue eyes narrowed, her hand gripping the doorframe. The scent of curry wafted up from the restaurant below, filling the cramped flat with its spicy aroma. "I had to see you. After what happened last time..." He averted his gaze, a sentiment Aurora echoed as she fingered the small crescent-shaped scar on her wrist. "That was six months ago, Lucien. You can't just show up at my flat unannounced like that. We agreed to keep things professional between us." Her voice was steady, but her heart pounded in her chest. "I know, I know. But damn it, Rory, I can't get you out of my head," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. His hand unconsciously tapped the hidden blade in his ivory-handled cane. For a moment, they stood in silence, the weight of their history pressing down on them. Slowly, Aurora stepped aside, allowing him entrance into the flat. He moved with a quiet grace, his heterochromatic eyes scanning the mountains of books and scrolls scattered about. "Still trying to save the world, I see," he noted with a hint of a smile, picking up a research note from the nearest pile. "Old habits die hard," Aurora replied, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to put up a protective wall between them. "Rory..." Lucien began, his voice trailing off. He moved towards her, closing the distance between them. Aurora's heart hammered in her chest, her resolve wavering. "Lucien, don't," she breathed, but there was no conviction in her words. "I tried, Rory," he whispered, his fingers brushing a strand of her straight, shoulder-length black hair from her face. "I tried to forget you, but I can't." "Why do you think I left Cardiff?" Aurora replied, her voice barely audible. "I couldn't bear to be near you, knowing we could never be together." "But we can," Lucien insisted, his hand cupping her face, his thumb wiping away a stray tear she hadn't realized had fallen. "We are, Rory, whether we like it or not. We're bound together by something greater than either of us understands." Aurora wanted to argue, to insist that he leave, that they could never work - but the words wouldn't come. Instead, she found herself leaning into his touch, her body drawn to the warmth of his like a moth to a flame. "Lucien," she breathed, a soft surrender. In the next instant, his lips were on hers, the kiss searing, branding, exorcising the ghosts of their past. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, and she found herself falling, tumbling head over heels into the fire that burned between them. "Rory," he murmured against her lips, his voice thick with emotion. "My Rory." "I'm so tired of fighting this," she admitted, her hands fisting in the material of his suit jacket. "I want... I want..." "Tell me," Lucien urged, his lips trailing along her jaw, her neck, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. "I want you," Aurora admitted, surrendering to the inevitable. "I've always wanted you, even when it hurt." Lucien's response was swift, his arms lifting her, carrying her to the small bed in the corner of the flat. They tumbled onto it, lost in the sea of books and scrolls and forgotten history. "I'm here now," he promised, his body covering hers. "And I'm not letting you go again." "Promise?" Aurora breathed, her heart caught in her throat. "Promise," Lucien echoed, sealing the vow with a kiss that left no room for doubt. And there, in the cramped flat above the curry house, they came together - two lost souls finding solace in the chaos, two hearts that had never truly forgotten the rhythm of the other's beat. "I love you, Rory," Lucien whispered, his voice a vow. "I love you too," Aurora replied, surrendering to the truth she had always known, the truth that had haunted her dreams and chased her from Cardiff to London and back again. "I always have."