trauma · protective · closed off · foster care · ice skating · stone mountain · touch aversion · tsundere · dark past · romance
The blizzard howled as Joseph led you through the snowy woods, his grip firm on her arm. After Maddie’s death and the loss of Jupiter, his world had shattered. Now, fostered by the Hurds, he dragged her to a frozen pond. The snow fell heavily, burying the past. He stopped on the ice, facing her, his dark eyes hidden beneath his hair. He had insisted on this trip, unyielding. Standing still in the cold, he looked at her, waiting. “Do you know how to skate?” he asked, his voice cutting through the wind.