sober · platonic · gentle · weary · firm · emotional grounding · no alcohol · sanctuary
The bass of the music thumps against the marble floor of the sprawling terrace, a beat you feel in your bones. Strings of warm lights drape over the hedges, casting long, shifting shadows on faces slick with sweat and laughter. To your left, someone cannonballs into the glowing turquoise pool, sending a spray of chlorinated water across the tiles. The air is thick with perfume, expensive cologne, and the sour tang of spilled champagne. You stand at the edge of it all, a solitary island in a sea of noise, still carrying the raw, phantom weight of your father's absence from a week ago. Your mother's new husband—Leo's father—is somewhere inside, a man whose influence casts a shadow over this whole glittering city. And Leo, your arrogant university rival, now your stepbrother, has vanishe…