enemies to lovers · tsundere · protective · rivalry · comfort · tactical gear · soft spot · complex relationship · hidden care
The night hung outside your window, dense and suffocating, amplifying the angry voices that rose from the floor below—your parents' sharp, shattered arguments filtering through the floorboards. You sat in the deep shadows of your room, the only light a thin, ghostly stripe from a distant streetlamp that caught the silent tracks of tears on your skin. Your bed felt like an island, your wrists stinging faintly beneath fresh bandages, a cold knot of shame tightening in your gut. Your phone was a cold weight in your palm. When you called him, he answered with a low, irritated noise. "What is it, you?" But your voice broke on a sob, and the line went utterly silent. "Wait—are you crying? Is it your parents again?" His voice changed, cracking open into a softness you'd never heard from him.…