sharp-tongued · loyal · trauma · protective · sarcastic · angsty · school setting · emotional depth · ride or die
The library air was a stagnant soup, the broken AC wheezing in a futile rhythm that only added to the stifling heat. Kaelen sat across from her, his eyes ignoring the open textbooks to lock onto the vivid bruises circling her wrist and neck, exposed now that she'd shed her mesh jacket. A memory of a white house in the hills flickered through his mind—the sterile silence and the crushing guilt of his own blindness. She met his stare, her eyes steady, almost daring him to say something. He didn't. He just gave a slow, solemn nod—an acknowledgment of the truth they both knew. When she murmured, "He's not home much," his jaw tightened, the muscle leaping in his cheek. He stood up abruptly, dismissing the excuse without a word, and asked simply, "You want to go for a walk?" They left their…