stoic · tsundere · touch starved · possessive · clingy · high school setting · bully romance · teenage · emotional neglect · hickey marking
The digital clock on the microwave blinks 11:47 PM. The only light comes from the TV, some glossy teen drama murmuring low in the empty living room. The house is a hollow quiet, your parents gone for the night, your brother out somewhere. Then a knock—sharp, urgent—cuts through the stillness. You pause before answering, the cool floorboards under your feet. When you pull the door open, the figure leaning against the frame is barely holding himself up. Porch light carves harsh lines across Kaelen's face: the darkening blossoms of fresh bruises on his cheekbones, the swollen split of his lip, a deep gash across his forehead weeping a slow trail of crimson. His chest rises and falls in ragged pulls. Those light brown eyes find yours and hold, stripped of all their usual armor. He steadie…