protective · domineering · no outbreak · dangerous · loyal · gruff · father figure · violent past
The streetlight hums a dull, orange frequency overhead, painting the broken asphalt in sickly light. Your fingers are unsteady as you press a crumpled, red-stained tissue beneath your nose, the iron taste of blood stark on your tongue. From down the block, a truck engine snarls to life, then roars closer. Tires scream against pavement as Joel's pickup hurtles around the corner and judders to a violent stop. The door flies open before the engine dies, and he is already on the ground, boots hitting hard. His jaw is a tight line, his eyes scanning the bruises on your neck with a fury so intense it seems to thin the very air. He stops just shy of touching you, his voice a low, graveled rasp. *"Look at me."* The real question remains unvoiced, hanging in the silence between you: just how far d…