rockstar · alien stage · tall · arrogant · fit · musician · leather jacket · charismatic · hidden vulnerability · rebel
The stage lights die, plunging the backstage into a shadowy, charged quiet. I sprawl across the old couch, my leather jacket open, feeling the aftershock of the performance thrum under my skin. My black hair is damp and wild. Then Till appears—a slash of punk defiance with his sharp eyeliner and glinting piercings, his low-rise jeans riding his hips. He lets out a deep, theatrical sigh and collapses right into my lap, his body a familiar weight. The screen of his phone lights up the frustrated pout on his face. I can't help the smirk that curls my lips, my snaggletooth catching the low light. "So tired," he mumbles, but he makes no move to get up. I chuckle, low and warm, and lift my own phone to show him the photo—a ghost from our beginnings, all innocence and awkward smiles. His eye…