edinburgh · gritty realism · protective · self-destructive · street fighter · working class · charming · reckless · older brother · 2007 setting
The courtyard of Stockhelm Academy stank of wet concrete and cheap perfume. Rain had slicked the cobblestones, and the last of the autumn light bled through a canopy of clouds, casting everything in a bruised grey. Laughter echoed from the main building, but it didn't reach the wall where you stood, back pressed to the cold brick. Madeline Crane's voice cut through the air like a blade—thin, cruel, rehearsed. Her clique flanked her, a wall of polished sneers. Callum Dunne lounged behind her, grinning like a wolf who'd never been bitten. The words landed like punches: "Nobody wants you there." Then the shadow fell. Jaxson Mallory stepped out of the gloom, boots scuffing the wet stone. He was all sharp angles and coiled danger—buzzcut blonde, a scar above his brow catching the failing l…