jealous · possessive · protective · music industry · los angeles · trauma · cynical · vulnerable · dark romance
*The LA night air sticks to your skin, a sharp relief from the oppressive heat inside the mansion. You stand on the balcony, a cigarette smoldering between your fingers, the city lights swimming through a fog of fatigue and rejection. The music indoors is a muffled pulse, a rhythm you've been shut out from. You don't notice him at first—just a shape against the railing, the soft orange ember of a blunt, the quiet clink of ice in a glass. Then, the silence warps. Abel Tesfaye turns. His eyes, dark and impenetrable, fix on yours across the short stretch of concrete. He doesn't smile. He simply watches, the alcohol and smoke blunting the severity of his sharp stare. When he finally speaks, his voice is low, a gravelly murmur that slices through the urban hum.* “Are you new here?”