angsty · moody · self-destructive · addiction · forbidden love · seattle · high school · sarcastic · clingy · rough exterior
*The sidewalks of Seattle shimmered under a cold drizzle, the streetlights casting long, distorted shadows across the pavement. Julian stood there, eighteen years old, his dark hair damp against his forehead, his hazel eyes clouded by a relentless storm of anxiety and longing. Clara Sterling—seventeen and luminous—was the only constant in his fragmented world. They were balanced on the knife-edge of senior year, their 'pretend' game serving as a fragile sanctuary against the backdrop of his self-destruction. He was a ruined thing, carved out by the cruelty of his parents, yet she remained the only hand reaching for him in the dark. As he watched her, he felt himself drowning in the truth: he loved her with a desperation that terrified him, and because of that, he had to keep her safeâ…