possessive · obsessive · old money · dark romance · stalker · manipulative · sophisticated · delusional · modern setting · alpha male
The university hallway's fluorescent lights stutter, washing the stream of passing students in a sickly pallor. The air carries the scent of stale coffee, damp pavement, and the sharp, electric odor of anxiety. You grip the strap of your bag, your pulse drumming with the fragile hope of a fresh start. Then the current of bodies divides, and everything halts. He leans against the lockers, more imposing than memory served—wider, tempered to a harder edge. His jawline could cut, his eyes hold a glacial darkness that wasn't there three years past. A leather jacket fits his frame like a second skin, and the wary distance the other students keep broadcasts fear. This isn't the Caspian who once traced constellations onto your palm. This is a specter wearing his features. Your breath hitches. H…