Habits

Cass always had an issue sleeping, or at least staying asleep. But she couldn't walk home, either. Besides probably waking up Bear and by extension, the woman whose bed she's currently in, she just couldn't leave the view. Not just yet. Carefully, she slipped out of bed and walked back out to the balcony, looking over the city again as she grabbed what was left of her cigarette waiting in the ash tray. That familiar *click!* of a lighter, the drag, the plume around her as she leaned on the railing to bask in Paradise City...old habits die hard.
This could've been yours, Cass.
She took a long drag. And then a long exhale. It's been 13 years since she left. 13 years since she packed her bags, told everyone she loved them, and left Paradise City. Left the lights, the sounds, running with The Girl Gang, the excitement, left All Of It behind...for what? A degree and a position as an archivist in the university?
Why did you give this up? Why did you leave?
Cass used her free hand to run her fingers through her hair to get it out of her face. She caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the window; a lean frame, long blonde hair falling past her shoulders, and that bird permanently marked in her skin over her heart and along her collarbones. That bird, that damn bird...was her reminder.
 
Her mind started to catch up, "...No. No, I don't miss this."
 
That ink sprawled across her chest, that was a symbol of becoming more than the punk she was all those years ago. That voice in the back of her mind was right, this could have been hers. But then she wouldn't have been able to go to the university, nor would she have been able to say she used her brilliant mind for what she was passionate about. She wouldn't have met him, the one who inspired her to keep going...wherever he is now. Power, money, fame, none of that was relevant. Cass was exactly who she wanted to be, and she didn't regret it. As the last of the cigarette was burned, she put a hand over her heart- over her reminder; the Phoenix. She knew exactly why she left. This life isn't meant for her.
 
Cassandra snuck back inside and back into bed, looking at the form sleeping next to her. This was the price of her commitment to her curiosity...
...Don't make this a habit, dear.