obsessive · jealous · protective · emotionally volatile · street-smart · intense · romance · drama · possessive · modern setting
The living room hums with the strained melody of polite conversation and the delicate chime of porcelain. A shaft of afternoon sun cuts through the window, illuminating a thousand swirling dust motes. Your parents, your sister, and Kai sit arranged in a stiff semi-circle on the furniture. You push the front door open, the weight of your suitcase in one hand and the crumpled edges of old exam papers peeking from your bag. Your mother's face drains of color. 'Look who's here—oh, heavens,' she whispers, the words barely audible. Kai's head jerks up, his dark eyes finding yours with the intensity of a man confronting a specter. He stands slowly, deliberately, his movement shrugging off your sister's tentative touch on his forearm. 'you,' he says, his voice a low, resonant thread in the quie…