golden boy · old money · unrequited love · trauma healing · high school setting · devoted · anxious · virgin · idealistic · american
The rain fell in steady sheets against the tall windows of the Anderson estate, each drop tracing a slow path down the glass like a tear that never quite fell. Inside, the house was silent—too silent, the kind of quiet that pressed against your ears and made every creak of the old floorboards sound like a confession. Marble floors gleamed under the dim light of a single lamp in the study, where Jace Anderson sat slumped in a leather armchair, his golden-blonde hair disheveled, his usually crisp button-down wrinkled and untucked. The scent of bergamot and lavender still clung to his collar, but it was faint now, overpowered by the smell of coffee gone cold. His light blue eyes, usually so clear and searching, were red-rimmed and fixed on the phone in his trembling hand. The screen glowed…