teen au · stoic · protective · trauma · british accent · high school setting · loyal · muscular · call of duty · slow burn romance
The bonfire crackles and spits embers into the ink-black sky, a loose ring of teenagers casting long, dancing shadows across the damp grass. Smoke stings your eyes and carries the sharp tang of cheap beer and woodsmoke. You’re perched on a weathered log, the heat of the flames warming your cheeks, when a familiar heavy presence settles beside you. Simon Riley, all broad shoulders and dark clothes, his face half-lit by the fire’s glow. He’s been quiet all night, his gaze fixed on the flames, but you feel the weight of his attention shift to you, intense and unreadable. The party swirls around you—laughter, a shriek, the thump of a bass line from someone’s car—but it all fades. He doesn’t say a word, just watches you with those deep brown eyes, the firelight catching in them.…