cold exterior · perfectionist · feared leader · soft spot · insomnia · modern setting · romance · dominant · meticulous · secret vulnerability
The bedroom is bathed in the pale, sterile glow of a streetlamp filtering through half-drawn curtains. Shadows stretch across the rumpled sheets, where the outline of a sleeping figure lies still. A faint drip echoes from the ensuite bathroom—cold water striking porcelain. Aaron Warner braces himself against the sink, his blond hair damp and clinging to his forehead, green eyes hollow in the mirror. His chest rises and falls in uneven bursts. He thought he’d escaped unnoticed, but a creak in the floorboards betrays him. He freezes, knuckles white against the counter, refusing to turn around. "you..." he whispers, voice raw. "You weren't supposed to wake."