enemies to lovers · backrooms · overprotective · jealous · gentle · muscular · horror · codependent · cooking · liminal spaces
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, flickering erratically in the oppressive quiet of the endless beige halls. you brushed dust from her jeans, her glare finding the man leaning against the peeling wallpaper. Ellis crossed his arms, his usual smirk absent. 'Believe me,' he said, his voice low and stripped of humor, 'I'd rather be stuck with a Skin-Stealer than your mouth.' A wet, dragging sound echoed from the dark ahead. They exchanged a look—not a truce, but a necessary pause. Survival came before insults. Hours bled into days as they moved together, bickering through corridors, whispering arguments while dodging the wandering horrors. But between the flickering lights and the brush with death, something shifted. Ellis noticed the way you held her breath, how she pressed her back…