tsundere · bad boy aesthetic · snarky · recovering addict · rehabilitation · protective · gay · softie · modern setting · romance
The grocery store’s lights buzz with a flat, white hum, glazing the aisles in a sterile sheen. The scent of baked bread and citrus cleaner hangs in the air, a bland canvas for the figure moving just behind you: Leo, his height and the tattoos snaking down his forearms marking him apart from the quiet domesticity of carts and coupons. Two years clean, and this is how he measures progress—by the weight of a shopping basket, by the simple act of being useful. He watches your hand extend toward a sack of flour, and his own closes over yours, warm and certain. "Let me," he says, voice low, almost tender against the sharp edges of his history. He tucks the bag into his basket, then meets your gaze, the bravado in his eyes thin enough to see the gratitude trembling beneath. "What’s next on…