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Eve refuses to be embarrassed about this. 

She refuses to be embarrassed about where she is, what she’s wearing, and what she’s doing. 

She refuses to be embarrassed by how excited she is. 

She just… she refuses, okay? Okay. 

Yes, her 44th birthday is only months away, but she’s allowed to still enjoy this kind of thing. Everyone likes live music! People her age go to gigs all the time. Granted, when she looks around the age range does seem to be mostly 30 and under, and anyone she sees her age are accompanying children, but whatever! Who cares! It’s her life and she’s living it!

She refuses to be embarrassed. 

The line for the main merch stand is long. It’s rammed with people chatting animatedly and lined by venue staff who look bored already, muttering to each other through their headsets. Eve joins at the end and bounces on her feet a little, trying to see over the many heads towards the stand itself and the t-shirts and sweaters that are pinned to a wide board behind it. 

She’s given herself a £80 limit tonight for merch and she will not go over it, not like last time when she returned home with two hoodies, a t-shirt, a CD and a record, despite not even having a record player. 

No, this time she will limit herself. 

25 minutes later she’s the owner of three brand new tees, and as she excitedly puts one on to wear throughout the show, something catches her eye. 

She turns to where she thinks she saw the flash of nearby movement just as her phone goes off. 

Elena: I can’t believe you’re there while I’m stuck here. I’m literally so jealous 

Eve huffs out a laugh as she starts walking towards one of the bars inside the arena. 

Eve: You’re on your honeymoon! That’s way more exciting! 

Elena: Oh don’t give me that shit, I’m missing the show of a lifetime!!!

Eve: Stop it, I’ve got you a T-shirt. x

She smiles and puts her phone away before heading to the bathroom, and then to one of the bars at the arena to order a gin and tonic. There were still two hours before the doors opened but Eve would head over there to wait soon. 

She likes to be prepared. 

As she sits there, surrounded by laughter and bubbling chatter, she lets it sink in. 

Eve is seeing Taylor Swift tonight. Live. 

A thrill of excitement flutters in her chest as it hits her all over again. She knows some people would judge her for going to a concert alone in her 40s, but honestly they can go fuck themselves. She has been through some serious shit this past year, and she god damn deserves to enjoy a Taylor fucking Swift concert without people judging her. 

It started with passing glance in a mirror and a freshly blood soaked crime scene. And then, ha, then she got fired and hired and began to chase an assassin across Europe in a journey that could only be described as ludicrous before topping that excursion off with a stab to said assassin’s abdomen. Then it was the panic and the running and the sort of firing and rehiring and the voicemail and the chase again and the peephole in the door and some other stuff and then the assassin was hired by her work and-

It’s been a fucking year. 

But tonight, tonight she gets to forget all of that and watch Taylor Swift amaze and astound her into forgetting this year ever happened. For a couple of hours at least. 

——

Villanelle is embarrassed. 

She is very embarrassed about where she is, what she’s wearing, and what she’s doing. 

She is definitely embarrassed by how excited she is. 

She just… she is embarrassed, okay? Okay. 

Villanelle takes another furtive look around before walking quickly to the merch stand and joining the queue. She wants to get what she needs as quickly as possible, and what she needs is the black Reputation album hoodie with the black snake on one side and the black Taylor Swift wording on the other. 

She needs it. 

The queue is long and takes forever but Villanelle is patient. The hoodie is worth it, it is worth the waiting and worth not hurting anyone to get further ahead in the line. There are venue staff all over the place anyway, and she will 100% kill someone if she is kicked out for being aggressive. 

And she will kill someone if she misses Taylor Swift. There is no question about that. 

She smiles at the excited children in front of her, and mentally pats herself on the back when she doesn’t kick one over for spilling lemonade on her sneakers. 

Taylor Swift spreads peace and love in the form of song and so tonight, so shall Villanelle. 

The hoodie is soft when she finally gets her purchase, and she walks off to the side and tugs it on immediately, grinning widely at the perfect fit of it. 

Imagine if Taylor looked down at the crowd in a song break and caught Villanelle’s eye. What if their gazes lock and Taylor feels what Villanelle feels whenever she listens to the Red album. What if, what if Taylor somehow arranges to meet her after the show, and they talk and talk and hug and talk and fall in love and run away together and Villanelle will kill anyone that tries to get in Taylor’s way, starting with Kanye West, anyone that stops Taylor from becoming queen of everything, Villanelle will be there for her and she’ll wear red lipstick everyday and Karlie Kloss can fuck off because obviously they were together and how could a woman be dumb enough to not be with Taylor Swift and-

Villanelle’s senses prickle and her stream of giddy consciousness cuts off immediately. She straightens up, feeling something nearby, something… something. 

She looks around as she steps into the shadows at the side of the corridor, searching for whatever it is that has her awareness on high alert, sure that danger is close as her muscles coil themselves as they prepare. 

And then-

No. No. 

And then… there’s thick brown curly hair not 10 feet away from her, and sure, lots of people have curly hair, but she knows this hair anywhere and she knows that petite figure anywhere and she knows the way those fingers run through those curls anywhere and it’s Eve, Eve is right there, right fucking there. 

Villanelle watches Eve pull a t-shirt on over her tank top. 

And then Villanelle runs away. 

Without drawing attention to herself and without looking back, Villanelle dashes down the corridor and turns left into a bar, purposefully selecting this one for the many groups of women her age all standing around and giggling. She’ll blend in here, Eve won’t see her. 

It will be fine. 

Villanelle watches the door for a minute, then heads for the bar. 

“Gin and tonic, please.” Villanelle says as softly as she can in the loud space, and the bartender nods and sets about making her drink as she stares at the entrance again. Another few minutes pass with no Eve in sight, and Villanelle starts to relax. She spots a free stool down the bar surrounded by more laughing women and she settles there with her drink, planning to wait until her heart settles to a more natural beat before leaving and joining the queues to get into the arena’s standing area. 

She wants to get a good spot in the crowd. 

Now that the panic is over, Villanelle lets the excitement wash back over her. She has never been to a concert before, not a big one like this, and despite being slightly mortified that she, an international assassin, is here by herself dressed in Taylor Swift merchandise, she is still very excited. 

She cannot wait to just let loose for a bit, to pretend for a night that she is just a regular 20 something year old listening to her favourite artist. 

Of course, she actually loves not being a regular 20 something year old. They seem entirely dull and boring and not at all what Villanelle wants to be, but it is fun to pretend to be someone else occasionally. Like trying on a different hat. 

She flicks through her Instagram feed linked to a fake account she’d created specifically to keep tabs on certain celebrities and politicians, and brings up Taylor Swift’s page. There’s nothing new on it but Villanelle scrolls through regardless, letting the pictures from the tour so far get her more and more amped up for the show she’s about to be witness to. 

God, her life is fantastic. 

It has been a rough year, what with being stabbed and rejected multiple times and all, but Villanelle is very resilient. She is over it all. 

Besides, she and Eve had a moment through a door and a moment in her new bedroom, before those girls ruined it, so Villanelle thinks things are actually going quite well, all things considered. 

But that does not mean she’s going to let Eve know she is here tonight. Villanelle would never live it down, and Eve would never let it go. 

Villanelle figures she should have been expecting the crowds to part like the Red Sea at the exact moment that thought crossed her mind, leaving a clear and open space between her perched form and Eve sat at a table nearby. 

Villanelle faces the bar sharply and downs her gin and tonic. 

She’s an incredibly talented and accomplished assassin, and she can absolutely get out of here unnoticed. 

So when she immediately manages to knock over some empty glasses by her right elbow, she almost smiles. Because of course. 

They crash to the ground behind the bar and Villanelle doesn’t even wince. 

Because of course. 

She can feel eyes on her from every angle and some people are cheering in the background, but she refuses to look behind her. If she looks behind her, Eve will see her, and Villanelle will die. She will die. 

Briefly, she wonders if Eve can recognise her by the back of her alone, just like she can with Eve, but she dismisses the thought. No one is as observant as Villanelle is, no one as focussed, and besides, she’s been trained on how to appear virtually invisible in crowds. She is safe, as long as she doesn’t turn around. 

“Oh my- you have got to be fucking kidding me.”

——

Eve looks over at the sound of smashing glass, and her eyes immediately land on the back of the woman’s head, despite the many other people milling about in the direction of the startling sound. 

Her eyes land on the head, on the honey blonde hair, and she just knows. 

And she’s surprised when her stomach doesn’t curl in fear or anxiety. She’s surprised when actually, instead, she just feels… somewhat frustrated. 

She just wanted one night off from her life. Is that too much to ask? 

She gets up and walks over to the frozen figure that seems to be refusing to move, and Eve can practically feel the waves of tension flowing from the woman as she approaches. 

As soon as she’s a foot away, she smells the telltale perfume. 

“Oh my- you have got to be fucking kidding me.” 

It doesn’t come out angry, just a little bothered, which is probably why the woman turns so slowly on her stool. 

But eventually, yep, there she is, Villanelle is facing Eve with a look bordering on sheepish. It takes Eve by surprise. 

“What are you doing here?” Eve asks, exasperated. “Can’t you let me have just one evening to myself?” 

The sheepish look turns to confusion. 

“What?” Villanelle asks, forehead lined in question. Eve scoffs and shakes her head, which just seems to confuse Villanelle more. 

“Did you follow me here?” Eve demands to know, crossing her arms. “Are you here to torment me somehow? Use this situation against me?”

Villanelle opens and closes her mouth a few times, and now Eve is also confused. Why is Villanelle reacting so…

Wait. 

Eve’s eyes drop to Villanelle’s top. 

It clicks. 

When Eve looks back up, she’s already smirking. 

“Oh my god.”

Villanelle frowns and starts to stand up. 

“You are right, yes, I followed you, I am here to torment and make fun-”

“Oh my god!” 

“Eve if you say anything I will kill you, I am being serious.” 

Eve just laughs openly and Villanelle sighs, looking up at the ceiling desperately. 

“You like Taylor Swift.” Eve says slowly through her grin. “The great and terrifying Villanelle is a swifty!” 

Villanelle shrugs with wide eyes. 

“Okay, yes? And? You are also here and wearing a t-shirt with Taylor Swift’s face on!”

Eve clamps her mouth shut and Villanelle looks victorious. 

“So, why are you here? You don’t have any children.”

“Yeah, well, why are you? You don’t have any friends!”

“Ouch, Eve.” Villanelle says with a furrowed brow.

Eve immediately feels guilty, of all things. She purses her lips together in an attempt to keep the apology she wants to give inside, but then Villanelle is looking down and she actually seems hurt and Eve can’t handle the fact that the blonde looks like someone just kicked her dog and-

“Sorry, that was mean.” Eve mumbles. Villanelle doesn’t look up, and Eve sighs. “I’m here by myself too. It’s fine. It’s… whatever. We’re adults. We can do stuff alone if we want.”

Villanelle does look up now, her gaze curious. She hums a little in thought. 

“Okay, but… but you will not tell anyone that you saw me here, right?”

“If you don’t tell anyone you saw me here, then yeah, I won’t tell.” Eve says through a small smile. “Our secret.”

At that, Villanelle grins. 

“I have not had a secret with someone else for a long time.” She says, sounding giddy, and Eve smiles a little bigger. 

And she knows what’s she’s about to ask would probably be considered insane by a lot of people. Like, a lot. But what the hell. 

“Do you maybe want to watch Taylor together?” Eve asks tentatively, running a hand through her hair awkwardly. 

Villanelle narrows her eyes. 

“I don’t know,” she shrugs, “are you going to be mean to me again? Are you going to yell at me like the last time I saw you?”

The time in question is when Eve was sat in Villanelle’s London flat, perched on the bed only inches away from each other, their moment ruined by two random women. 

If it even was a moment. 

Whatever. 

“No.” Eve shakes her head. She swallows her pride. “And I am… sorry, about that. I was… grouchy, or something. I don’t know.”

Villanelle smiles again, softly, and she tilts her head teasingly. 

“Okay, I forgive you.”

“Cool.” Eve says quickly through a sigh, eyes darting around to land on anything but Villanelle for a moment before settling back onto the smiling blonde. “So… you want to watch together or what?” 

“Will you dance? I like to dance.”

Eve scoffs. 

“It’s Taylor Swift, of course I’m going to dance.”

Villanelle laughs, then checks the fancy looking watch on her wrist. 

“Well then lead the way.” She says happily, nodding her head towards the bar exit. “We need to push our way to the front.”

Eve laughs. 

“You know, having you here might actually be useful.” 

Eve starts walking, and Villanelle quickly falls in step beside her, turning to look at her smugly. 

“I am always useful.” She says with her chin lifted proudly. 

“Uh huh.” Eve says with a smile. 

——

Villanelle did not expect this night to involve dancing wildly next to Eve Polastri, but she is not complaining. She is pleasantly surprised to find that Eve can dance. 

Not like a professional or like the people in music videos, but free and uncaring and like she is actually happy. 

Villanelle likes it a lot. 

They dance and scream-sing and forget for an hour that they’re ‘enemies’ with ‘undeniable sexual tension’ or whatever, and Villanelle can’t remember the last time she let go like this, the last time she had this much fun. 

The song ends and they clap and stamp their feet, and Eve whistles shrilly with her fingers. 

“You need to teach me how to do that!” Villanelle shouts over the cheering, and when Eve looks at her with laughter in her eyes, Villanelle feels that all too familiar flip in her stomach. 

“Sure!” Eve shouts back with a grin. 

At that moment there’s a commotion near the main stage, and the women look to see Taylor Swift making her way down from the stage and walking down one of the cleared walkways to a mini stage, bodyguards in front of and behind her. 

Villanelle had dragged them as far as she could into the crowd and purposefully positioned themselves by to the barrier running along the main walkway. 

“This is our chance to talk to her.” Villanelle says in an excited rush, and Eve’s eyes widen. 

“Are you serious?” She gasps. “Are you serious? We could talk to her?” 

“Apparently she occasionally she says hi and stuff to people along the walkways, it’s why I made us stand here.”

Villanelle laughs as Eve bounces on her toes a little to see over people’s heads as Taylor gets closer to them. 

“Here,” Villanelle says in Eve’s ear, who jumps, much to Villanelle’s delight, “let me give you a piggyback.”

“A piggyback? What are we, twelve?”

“No,” Villanelle drawls loudly as the people around them start shrieking as Taylor gets closer, “but you can’t see and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Come on!”

Eve looks back and forth between the walkway and Villanelle, getting more and more frantic, before finally she gestures for Villanelle to turn around. 

“Okay, let's do this.” Eve shouts over a particularly loud scream nearby. 

Villanelle laughs and turns, crouching down for Eve to jump onto her back. 

She is as light as Villanelle expected. 

“Okay captain,” Villanelle shouts up, “how far away is she?”

“Like ten metres, oh my god!” Eve half shrieks. 

Villanelle hears someone grumble behind her, presumably at the extra height Eve has given her and the subsequent blocked view, and she’s about to turn around and snap at them when-

“Hey, I paid to be here too, okay? Don’t cross me, I am sitting on a very dangerous woman.”

Villanelle laughs delightedly at Eve’s threat, and cranes her head back to stare at her in surprise. Eve catches her eye and shrugs. 

“What?” She says innocently. “You are!”

Villanelle laughs again, and then again when Eve starts excitedly patting her on the shoulders. 

“She’s here, she’s here!” Eve squeals. 

Villanelle rises onto her toes easily, even with Eve on her back, and watches in wonder as Taylor starts to walk past them. She stops for just a moment to talk to someone on the opposite side, and Eve drops her head so her chin hovers just over Villanelle’s shoulder. 

“She is literally within talking distance Villanelle, oh my fucking god.” Eve says in an overwhelmed rush, and Villanelle leans her head to look at her, at Eve’s flushed cheeks and bright eyes. Eve grins. “Thank you for letting me up here.”

Villanelle laughs and faces forward, and her heart almost stops when she feels Eve press a quick kiss to her cheek. 

It definitely stops when she realises Taylor is looking right at them as she walks past. 

“You two are so adorable.” Taylor shouts over the crowd, pointing at Eve and Villanelle. 

Taylor walks away. 

And Villanelle has forgotten how to breathe. 

“Oh my god,” mumbles Eve through the screaming and cheering, but Villanelle hears it like it’s the only sound in the room. “Oh my god.”

Villanelle can only nod. 

“Villanelle… Villanelle, Taylor Swift just spoke to us.”

Villanelle nods harder, eyes no longer seeing, mind stuck in a haze. 

“Taylor fucking Swift just spoke to us! Oh my gosh, okay, put me down, Vil, put me down.”

She hears the command through the fog and drops Eve gently to the ground before turning to her, eyes wide and breath stuttering. 

“Taylor Swift just spoke to us.” Villanelle murmurs. 

Eve nods and jumps up and down a bit before putting her hands on Villanelle’s cheeks, squishing her face together. 

“Taylor Swift just spoke to us.” Eve repeats in a voice Villanelle thinks is intended to be calm, but instead sounds like a volcano about to blow. 

Villanelle blinks and focuses on Eve fully, face still pressed into a fish pout. 

“Taylor Swift just called us adorable.”

“I-” Eve starts, suddenly snapping out of her hyped delirium a tiny bit and letting go of Villanelle’s cheeks, but she doesn’t look away from her. “Yeah. She did.”

“Taylor Swift thinks we are adorable. Taylor Swift thinks we are a couple.” Villanelle says, and she feels a smirk growing now as she takes in the slightly embarrassed but mostly still ecstatic look in Eve’s eyes. 

“I mean, we probably did look pretty cute.” Eve admits with a few tilts of her head, as if weighing up the thought. “And if Taylor Swift thinks we’re adorable-”

“It must be true.” Villanelle is full on smirking now, fun and teasing, and Eve rolls her eyes playfully. 

Playfully. 

This whole night is very, very strange to Villanelle. 

——

The show is over. 

Sort of. 

“You have confetti in your hair.”

Eve looks at a chuckling Villanelle and shakes her curls, watching as pieces of sparkling paper drop to the ground. She looks up at Villanelle after with raised eyebrows, but she just laughs again and reaches towards Eve. 

“There is still a lot left, hold on…” and Villanelle starts to pick out more confetti than Eve honestly thought was possible from her hair. 

“How is there so much in here?” She hears Villanelle mumble. “These luscious curls Eve, they are becoming a problem.”

Eve finds she likes the word ‘luscious’ on Villanelle’s accented tongue. 

She blinks that thought away, but does allow herself to enjoy the feeling of Villanelle threading her fingers softly through Eve’s dancing-mussed hair. 

“As if you’d ever think of my curls as a problem.”

She says it teasingly and immediately is shocked at herself, but maybe this is who she is now, now that she’s been acknowledged by Taylor Swift and felt the softness of Villanelle’s cheek under her lips for half a second. 

Whatever. 

Villanelle scoffs and smirks at Eve. 

“If you know me at all then you know your curls have always been a problem for me.”

Eve feels her cheeks warm at Villanelle’s teasing tone, and she looks away. Villanelle mercifully finishes pulling confetti from Eve’s hair and gives the top of her head a pat. 

“Would you like a lift home?” Villanelle’s asks casually, and Eve gapes at her. 

“You drove here? Are you crazy?” 

Villanelle gives Eve a look as she leads them out of the arena. 

“I parked a fifteen minute walk away instead of at the venue, but okay, you get an Uber and spend however much, and I’ll drive home in comfort for free.” She flashes Eve a dazzling grin. “Like a crazy person.”

Eve glares, but it’s half-hearted at best, and Villanelle just laughs at her. It’s a tinkling sound, and Eve doesn’t think she’s ever heard it before, not genuine like it has been tonight. 

She feels quite lucky, really. She imagines not many people get to hear it. 

“Okay, fine.” Eve huffs. “A lift would be lovely, thank you.”

Villanelle smirks as they leave the venue and begin the walk to her parked car. 

An almost melancholy feeling starts to fill her as they walk away from the massive building, and Eve feels as though she’s leaving something behind, leaving the disguise of ‘normal woman’ back with the confetti picked from her hair. 

She’s come to grips with the fact that her life is far from normal, and she’s fine with that, but alongside her disguise is Villanelle’s disguise, and Eve thinks that maybe this strange friendship will exist only inside the walls of the arena. 

“Do you want to get McDonald’s on the way home? I will buy you a McFlurry.” Villanelle asks with a smile. 

“I love McFlurrys…” Eve says, staring curiously at Villanelle as they walk. 

“I know.” Villanelle shrugs casually. “So, we will stop there, yes?”

Eve nods, and purses her lips in an attempt to stop grinning at Villanelle like a fool. 

Okay. 

Maybe this could exist outside of the arena, too. 

——

Villanelle knows where Eve lives. Obviously. She’s been there numerous times now. 

She’s turning onto Eve’s street when the woman pipes up from the passenger seat. 

“Oh, uh, maybe don’t park outside my house?”

Villanelle’s jaw tightens and she keeps her eyes fixed on the right. 

“Why?” Villanelle asks, forcing her voice to stay light. “Worried your husband will see and get upset?”

“No.” Eve says quickly, easily, and Villanelle turns to look at her. Eve looks taken aback by her own speedy and certain response. “God, I mean, I should be worried about that, but… I’m not? I’m more worried that he’ll see you and call someone and you’ll get into trouble.” 

The silence that follows is a soft one, and Villanelle can’t help but smile into it. There’s a flutter in her chest and she wants to be sweet to Eve, to say something sincere. 

But that is not how they work. 

“Aww, Eve,” she teases instead with a grin, “look at you, caring about big bad me.”

“Shut up.” Eve chuckles. 

Villanelle pulls into a parking spot a few houses down the road from Eve’s home and cuts the engine. Darkness and quiet surround them for a few moments, until Villanelle turns in her seat to flash a playful smile at Eve. 

“Well, I had a lovely time tonight.” She says with a wink, grinning with Eve rolls her eyes. “We should do it again sometime.”

“I know you’re only kidding,” Eve says, looking down, “but I really did have a good time, and… Jesus, don’t mention it to Carolyn, but I would not be opposed to hanging out again, in like a… non-working capacity?”

For the second time tonight, Villanelle is stunned into near speechlessness. She must look like a fish, gaping at Eve with wide eyes and a surprised gaze, and that thought is what gets her to snap her mouth shut. 

“Was that a stupid suggestion?” Eve asks awkwardly, so Villanelle jumps in before things fall back to how they usually are, outside of tonight. 

“What? No, no, I just… was not expecting that from you.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it either.” Eve says with a slight grimace. “But here we are. And, I mean it.”

Villanelle nods and tries to contain her growing smile, feels it pull softly at her cheeks. She teases a little more, desperate for this night not to end. 

“Taylor Swift thinks we are adorable together.”

It’s hard to see Eve’s exact expression in the darkness of the car’s interior, but Villanelle thinks she sees a blush settle on Eve’s cheeks while she huffs out a disbelieving laugh. 

“I still cannot believe she spoke to us...” Eve says with a gentle shake of her head. Quiet settles again, and Eve clears her throat and sets a determined gaze on Villanelle.

“Right. Okay. Right. I’m gonna do something a little out of character now. Just… do not let this go to your head, okay?”

“Let what-”

“This was a fun night, more fun than I’ve had in fucking forever, and I had a genuinely good time with you on this weird… outing, or date, whatever it ended up turning into what with you dropping me off home and all.”

Villanelle blinks, shocked.

“What-”

“And I want tonight to end like it feels like it should. Do you get what I mean? I want to exist in this… this reality for like a minute longer, so… just, just don’t overthink this, okay?”

“Overthink what-”

Eve presses her lips to Villanelle’s. 

It’s quick and soft and can really only be considered a prolonged peck, but it’s real, tangible, and Villanelle feels more in the two seconds of the kiss than she did the entire concert. 

Eve pulls away, looking sheepish but a little proud, maybe on account of how Villanelle is gaping like a fish, once again. Her lips tingle. 

“Do not mention that happened to anyone. I just… I felt like tonight needed that?” Eve’s gaze darts between Villanelle’s eyes quickly, searching. She smiles a little, the corner of her mouth lifting. “Taylor would be proud.”

“Um…” Villanelle croaks out before clearing her throat. “Yes. She, uh… she would.”

The tingle in her lips is scrambling her thoughts. She feels her heartbeat in her fingertips. 

“Yeah.” Eve half sighs, and then, “Are you okay?” she asks with a small laugh, staring at Villanelle with a look bordering on cocky. 

Villanelle swallows hard and tries to summon her usual confidence up from where it’s sat, warm and lazy, buzzing in her belly. 

“I am fine.” Villanelle flashing Eve a smile, hopes it looks steady, hopes it doesn’t give away just how wonderfully turned around she feels. “You just… I’m fine.”

Eve nods, then smiles tightly, a little awkwardly. 

“Right. Well. I’m gonna go. Thanks again for… stuff, and dropping me home. Uh… date over, I guess.” Eve grabs her bag from the footwell and unclips her seat belt, and Villanelle feels the air start to change back into the norm, the sweet fog fading. 

Villanelle watches as if in slow motion, but as Eve reaches for the door handle everything slips back into normal speed. 

“Wait!”

Eve looks at her, eyes curious and body antsy, and Villanelle worries that her stunted reaction has made Eve doubt herself. 

Villanelle reaches out to touch the back of Eve’s wrist gently, and takes a breath to steady herself. 

Which is ridiculous, considering she kills people for a living, but of course affection from Eve reduces her to this, of course. 

“You said you want to hang out again.”

It’s a statement, not a question, but Eve nods yes. 

“Okay.” Villanelle says quietly. “And what if I asked you on another… ‘date’. Another night like tonight.”

The silence is only disturbed by the noises of outer London at night, the distant sound of cars and the hoot of nocturnal birds. Eve stares at her, and Villanelle finds it unreadable. It leaves her feeling untethered, floating, so foreign to how she feels every moment of every day she’s not alone with Eve. 

It’s refreshing. It’s addictive. 

Eve tilts her head just so. 

“Maybe.” She says with just the slightest smile. 

And then she’s gone, shutting the car door behind her and walking down the street, Villanelle’s eyes following every step. 

When Eve is out of sight, Villanelle stares at her reflection in the rear view mirror and smiles. 

“Maybe.” Villanelle whispers.