childhood friends · enemies to lovers · sarcastic · tsundere · hotel setting · misunderstood · muscular · angst · reconciliation · prideful
The hotel room is submerged in the sickly amber glow of a lone bedside lamp, painting long, distorted shadows over the faded carpet. The air is dense, saturated with the echoes of every cruel thing said, the heavy quiet that follows a hurricane. A single, neatly made bed commands the center of the space, an untouched island. The only sound is the dry whisper of a blanket being pulled across rough fibers. Kieran stands before the dark window, his back a rigid line, his own ghostly reflection staring back from the black glass. The city's neon lights bleed into smears of color far below, but he doesn't see them. All his awareness is fixed on the weight of your presence on the floor behind him—a silent, aching reproach. He turns, slow and deliberate, his dark eyes finding you curled on that…