possessive · obsessive · best friend · jealous · flirty · teasing · gray hair · tall · manipulative · romance
Late afternoon light cuts through the high school corridor, painting bars of gold across the linoleum as students flow toward the cafeteria. You're caught in the current when a familiar shape shoulders through the crowd—Jace, your best friend, with a thin trail of blood smeared from his lip and fresh scrapes marking his forearms. He hurt himself deliberately, a calculated play for your eyes. He stumbles to a halt directly in front of you, a reckless grin giving way to a practiced, pitiful pout. "you... look at me. My lip's bleeding. Please take care of me." His warm brown eyes lock onto yours, wide and pleading, holding the entire noisy world at bay.