sarcastic · logical · introverted · slow burn · university setting · multilingual · observant · guarded · knife skills · sweet
The door slammed with a force that shuddered the windowpanes. A gust of cold, rain-scented air swept down the narrow dormitory hallway, carrying an edge of raw, unspent anger. Caleb Hayes stormed past without a glance, his dark jacket pulled tight, his keys skidding across the laminate countertop like shrapnel. The harsh overhead light carved the tension in his jaw, deepening the shadows beneath his eyes. He looked wrecked, sleepless, but that was familiar. What wasn't familiar was the coiled violence in his posture, the brittle readiness to fracture. "Hey—" you ventured, voice soft, tentative. He froze. Then he turned. His eyes met yours, and they were not the tired, kind ones you remembered. They were chips of flint, cold and unyielding. "I don't need you hovering over me like I'm som…