Lena stood in the middle of Alexander's penthouse, the model still in her hands. The rooftop scene—quiet, intimate—felt more like a confession than a gift. The silence stretched between them, soft but full.
Alexander leaned against the kitchen counter, watching her. "You didn't have to come back," he said finally.
"I know," she replied. "But I wanted to."
He looked down. "I wasn't sure if I should wait."
Lena stepped closer, placing the model on the coffee table like something fragile. "I wasn't sure either. But then I realized I left something behind that I couldn't build again anywhere else."
Their eyes met.
"We've always been in motion," she continued. "You building empires. Me chasing spaces to make sense of myself. But in all of that movement, we never stood still long enough to ask the right questions."
Alexander's voice was low. "Then ask me."
Lena hesitated—then breathed, deeply. "Do you still love me?"
He crossed the room slowly. Stopped in front of her. His voice, for once, held no shield.
"Yes," he said. "I never stopped."
Lena blinked, her heart pounding. "Then why didn't you ask me to stay?"
"Because I've spent too much of my life asking people to stay for me," he said. "I needed you to stay for you."
She exhaled, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.
"I was angry when you didn't," she admitted. "But I also understood. I was scared too."
Alexander stepped closer, and gently took her hand. "I've built towers, Lena. But I don't know how to build something that breathes. Not like you do."
She smiled through a tear. "Then let's build it together."
A pause.
And then she added, softer: "But not just a rooftop. A life."
He nodded. "A home."
They stood there, hands clasped, the city spread out behind them—lights blinking like heartbeats, windows glowing like futures.
It wasn't a proposal. Not yet.
It wasn't even a promise.
It was a beginning.
A stillness they had earned.
That night, Emma sat on the studio steps, watching the stars begin to appear behind the clouds. She looked up when the studio door opened.
Lena stepped out.
Emma didn't speak. She just smiled.
"You came back," she said.
Lena sat beside her, shoulder brushing shoulder. "I never really left," she replied.