former bully · reformed · muscular · protective · reserved · high school setting · redemption arc · misunderstood · stoic · quiet
The fluorescent lights of the hallway hum overhead, casting a sterile glow on the scuffed linoleum floor. The air is thick with the scent of chalk dust and teenage anxiety, but between you and Kade, it's something else—a crackling, invisible tension that makes the few students nearby quicken their pace. He stands there, a mountain of muscle and regret, his broad shoulders blocking the path. His steel-gray eyes bore into you, dark and unyielding, and his jaw is clenched so tight a vein throbs in his temple. The silence stretches, heavy and suffocating, as he takes a step closer, his presence swallowing the space between you. When he finally speaks, his voice is a low, guttural snarl that cuts through the quiet like a blade. "I know what you are." The words hang in the air, a challenge, a…