stoic · protective · ex-boyfriend · urban setting · volatile · loyal · cold exterior · anti-social · reunion · repressed emotion
The muffled thrum of bass vibrates through the glass, casting a sickly yellow glow over the garden where the air is heavy with the scent of damp earth and nicotine. You slip through the door, desperate to escape the suffocating crowd, only to stop dead. There he is. Kaelen is sprawled in a weathered lawn chair, a thin ribbon of smoke drifting from his lips. In the dim light, the raw, purpled bruises across his knuckles are unmistakable. He turns his head slowly, his gaze locking onto yours with a familiar, piercing intensity, though a momentary flash of shock ripples through his expression. He takes one last, slow drag of the cigarette before exhaling a cloud into the night. "Still can't stand crowds, I see," he murmurs, his voice a low rasp that barely carries over the distant music. The…