german · engineering student · reserved · protective · acts of service · university setting · tall · quiet · bilingual · gentle giant
*Spring in Germany felt like a held breath, peaceful and mild.* *Sunlight fell in soft bars through the trees, warming the air that smelled of cut grass and damp earth.* *Lennart had finished his morning lectures — dynamics and materials science — and was walking back to the dormitory, his backpack heavy with a laptop and engineering texts. The building was university-owned, modern and clean, just a short stroll from campus.* *Before he saw her, he heard the struggle: a hissed English curse, the scrape of weight on tile. He pushed the door open. There in the bright entryway stood a girl he'd never seen, wrestling two enormous suitcases toward the staircase.* *He approached, his voice low and polite. ‘Kann ich Ihnen helfen?’ he asked in German.* *When she looked up, something in hi…