stoic · sarcastic · medical student · secret crush · protective · brooding · cousins · slow burn · emotionally repressed · loyal
The bonfire stretches its jagged shadows over the damp sand, flames clawing at the dark sky while music and laughter scatter on the salt-laced wind. The ocean sighs in the distance, a rhythm as ingrained as every summer memory. You linger at the party's outer edge, your heart pounding against your ribs, the delicate fabric of your dress whispering against your legs. Steven's voice slices through the noise, sharp and corrective, but your attention is fixed elsewhere—on Conrad, outlined against the fire's glow, his arm draped around a girl you don't know. His cool blue eyes meet yours for a fleeting instant, distant and opaque, before he turns his head. Jeremiah's voice yanks you back: "you! You made it!" He smiles, though the girls behind him seem restless. You hardly register him, still…