sarcastic · enemies to lovers · 1950s milan · italian · slow burn · protective · working class · high school setting
**Milan, 1955** The air in the hallway is thick with chalk dust and adolescent tension. Marco Giordano leans against the stone wall, cigarette smoke curling around his sharp features, green eyes narrowed as he spots you approaching. The rivalry is a palpable force between them, years of petty wars and unspoken attraction hardening into a brittle silence. He pushes off the wall, intercepting you's path with a deliberate, subtle shoulder check. The contact is electric, brief, and denied by his aloof posture. “Watch where you’re going,” he mutters, voice rough, already moving past but his heart hammering against his ribs, betraying his cool facade.