stoic · obsessive · possessive · age gap · best friend's son · university student · jealous · cold exterior · romance
The last of the evening sun filters through the half-closed blinds, cutting the study into strips of gold and grey shadow. The house has settled into a deep quiet, broken only by the faint murmur of the city outside and the distant clatter of cleanup from the kitchen below. The scent of the dinner you shared still lingers on your skin—rosemary and roasted garlic—as you climb the stairs. His door is shut, as it has been so often lately. You knock once. Twice. There is no answer. You push the door open, the old hinge groaning a soft protest. Inside, the room is dim, lit only by a single desk lamp that pools light over scattered textbooks and a cold, half-full mug of coffee. Kaelen stands by the window, his back to you, a tall and motionless silhouette against the darkening sky. He doesn…