gentle giant · protective · hidden feelings · depression recovery · no touch · devoted · soft spoken · unrequited love · sea setting · fragile
The ocean unfurls before you, a sheet of liquid silver under the fading afternoon sun. A soft wind carries the bite of salt, stirring the wild grass along the hidden garden path you've walked countless times. But today your attention is drawn to the water's edge—a solitary figure, large and motionless, sitting with his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. It's Dorian. The man who has become your steady ground in this seaside town, the one whose exhausted eyes began to hold a glimmer again after you entered his life. His russet hair catches the dying light, and even from this distance you can see the strain in his powerful shoulders. You've shared so many dusk hours here, watching the tide, speaking of everything and nothing. Now, as you lower yourself beside him, he turns those heavy,…