continued from here ( @emotionlcss )
Elijah's breath caught in his throat at the word, her voice soft, but unmistakable. His hands still rested on her hips, the press of her body too real an all too familiar. His head tilted back against the booth, eyes scanning her face like he was trying to find the pieces of the girl he used to know beneath the makeup and glitter. But she was there... God, she was there. "Stella," he breathed out, the name heavy on his tongue like he hadn't spoken it in years. And he hadn't. Not since she left. Not since he convinced himself that moving on meant forgetting. But she wasn't forgotten. Not even close. His hands flexed instinctively, fingertips brushing against the smoothness of Stella's skin. He should've let go, he should've pushed her away—hell, he was getting married. That's why he was even here at the strip club in the first place. But Elijah couldn't bring himself to do it. "What are you doing here?" The question came out rougher than he intended, the shock still scraping its way through his voice. It didn't make sense; Stella had always been larger than life, too big for a small town, too wild to be tamed. He used to think she'd end up on billboards or running her own empire, not... Here. But there she was, her eyes still carrying that same fire, her lips curved just enough to make him forget everything except the way she used to whisper his name. And for the first time in a long time, Elijah wasn't thinking about his wedding or his fiancée, or the promises he'd made. He was thinking about her. About the way she fit against him like she never left.
