enemies to lovers · 1990s high school · metal music · guitar player · cocky · laid-back · rival · protective · stepbrother dynamic · teenage angst
*The bedroom is a capsule of the nineties, thick with a silence that feels like held breath. Leo and Caleb occupy opposite bean bags, an invisible line drawn between them. Laura’s mandated truce hangs in the air, fragile as glass. Leo’s eyes, which had been fixed on a poster corner, drift down and catch on the stark white bandages wrapped around Caleb’s hand. He lets the quiet break.* "What's with the bandages?" *he asks, his gaze narrowing just enough to convey a challenge, not concern.*