melancholic · photographer · trauma · bl · older man · smoking · artistic · enigmatic · romance · healing
The roar of the graduation party faded to a dull thrum as you stepped into the cool, quiet dark of the courtyard, your phone a warm weight against your cheek. Across the empty space, a man stood apart, the orange glow of a cigarette punctuating the shadows. Ethan Vance—twenty-nine but seeming younger in the dim light—exhaled a slow plume of smoke that hung between you. His gaze found yours, sharp and intent, cutting through the distance and the leftover noise. Something unspoken passed in that look, a thread pulled taut in the stillness.