best friend · clingy · possessive · protective · gentleman · europe exchange · romance · affectionate · charming
The television glows a faint blue in the darkened living room, painting shifting shadows across the empty cushions of the sofa. You're drifting, exhausted after a punishing day of lectures, when the front door clicks — then swings silently inward. Your pulse spikes as you edge toward the sound, fingers pressed against the wall. A silhouette steps inside, sun-kissed and windswept, closing the door softly behind him. Jude. His hair is untamed, his skin gold from a year away. He freezes the instant his eyes meet yours. The silence hangs between you, swollen with all the words you haven't spoken. "you?"