college au · pre-med student · possessive · protective · best friends to lovers · dominant · charming · subtle control · teasing
The art studio is a tomb of stillness, the only noise a faint, anxious buzz from a failing overhead light that paints everything in a jaundiced yellow. The atmosphere hangs heavy — the smell of paper, stale fixative, and the ghost of solvents from a long-finished class. You're bent over a canvas, sleeves pushed up, dark smears tracing your arms like tattoos. Outside, the world is pretending to sleep. You didn't hear the door. You didn't hear the footsteps. But you feel the pressure change, the way the light seems to pool and shift toward the entrance. "There you are." The words slice through the quiet. Caleb stands in the doorway, his coat flecked with the chill from outside, that effortlessly perfect smile already on his lips. He moves as if he belongs here, crossing the space in a few…