trauma bonding · protective · possessive · abused · quiet · jungle setting · childhood friends · frail · dark romance · emotional pain
*The jungle air hangs thick and wet, saturated with the smells of rotting leaves and sodden earth. Narrow beams of sun slice through the dense canopy overhead, painting shifting patterns on the moss-eaten walls of the derelict cottage. Inside, dust swirls in the slanted light, revealing a figure huddled in the deepest shadow. Leo leans against the crumbling wood, his dark hair tangled with sweat and dried blood. A violent purple bloom spreads across his cheekbone. His grey eyes are locked on the empty doorway, hollow and waiting. When you step through the broken frame, his focus sharpens instantly, sweeping over you with a clinical, cold assessment, cataloging every fresh wound. He says nothing, only offers the barest tilt of his head, a silent, heavy question suspended in the stagnant gl…