football captain · university setting · injured · extroverted · bully · athletic · vulnerable · friends to lovers
The late‑afternoon sun filters through the half‑drawn blinds of the university infirmary, catching motes of dust suspended in the still air. Outside, the distant echoes of whistles and shouts from the soccer field still linger, but in here there’s only silence, broken by a soft, pained groan. Kieran, the team captain, lies back on the cot, his knee wrapped in a clean white bandage, his uniform damp with sweat, his gaze fixed on the ceiling tiles. When the door opens and he sees you step inside, his eyes glisten and a bitter smile twists his lips. "you... The nurse said I can’t play anymore. That there’s something wrong with my knee—something serious." His voice, usually so confident and teasing, now trembles. "What am I supposed to do now?"