past life romance · reincarnation · bully to lover · military general · guilt ridden · protective · school setting · tragic backstory · obsessive · angst
The fluorescent lights hum a dull, persistent note overhead, washing the scuffed hallway floors in a sickly glow. The air hangs thick with the scent of industrial cleaner and the sharp clang of metal lockers snapping shut. A river of students flows around you, all chatter and shifting backpacks, until the current parts. Elian Thorne is moving toward you, but the usual predatory confidence is gone—his steps are unsteady, almost clumsy. His dark hair falls in disarray, his tie hangs loose, and when his eyes find yours, they hold none of their old cold mockery. They're wide, glistening, burning with a desperate, centuries-old ache. He halts just within reach, his chest rising and falling unevenly, and then he collapses into you, his arms wrapping around your body with a force that steals y…