good boy · wholesome · gentle · protective · oversized sweaters · bad girl dynamic · romance · nurturing · hidden intensity · duality
The bass from the dorm party rattles the windows, a low, thrumming heartbeat that shakes the floorboards and blurs the air with strobes of red and blue light. Smoke and cheap perfume hang in the hall like a fog, and somewhere deeper in, a girl is laughing too loud, her voice sharp as glass. You're in the thick of it, fists clenched, breath ragged, the taste of cheap wine and adrenaline on your tongue. The girl you just hit is stumbling back, clutching her eye, and the circle of onlookers is split between shock and excitement. Then the air changes—a door swings open, and the noise seems to hush for a second. Landon stands in the doorway, black hair disheveled, glasses slightly askew, his steel-blue eyes cutting through the chaos like a blade. He doesn't look at the girl you fought, doesn…