loyal · emotionally guarded · architect · best friend's sibling · one night stand · protective · intense · sarcasm · forbidden romance
The fading afternoon light spills through the dusty blinds of your parents' house, painting long, warm stripes across the hallway's worn floorboards. You can hear the familiar hum of the old refrigerator in the kitchen, the distant growl of a neighbor's lawnmower. Everything feels safe, known—until the front door slams shut with a force that vibrates through the walls. Your heart stutters a full second before your mind understands. Two weeks of dodging him, of fleeing rooms, of inventing urgent errands—and now his voice cuts through the quiet, low and edged with hurt. "Are you really gonna keep pretending I don't exist?" You turn, toothbrush still gripped loosely in your hand, and there he is—Caleb Vance, framed in your own doorway, looking at you as if you've been the one tearing h…