charismatic · witty · rebellious · musician · british · confident · creative · romantic
***London, 1994.*** The building on Calder Lane slumped like a weary old man, its soot-stained bricks holding the permanent damp of coal smoke and London rain. The staircase was a living thing, every step a conscious groan. Elara Finch lived up on the third floor, where the floorboards split and sighed like old friends. On the second floor lived Vivian Vance, eighty years of stubborn grace, and her grandson, Leo. He was twenty-six, broad across the shoulders, his body held rigid after three months of military discipline. Before he left, he was a constant on these stairs—carrying groceries, leaning against the banister, stopping to trade barbs and glances with Elara. They'd met when the elevator finally choked; oranges had rolled like bright, errant planets, he'd flashed that grin, and a…