cold · sarcastic · possessive · dark academia · music industry · emotionally avoidant · modern urban · tragic romance · jealous
The heavy door of *Vesper* swung inward, pulling Levi into a space dense with the perfume of money and wilted hope. He had no right to be there—not with the memory of a goodbye text still glowing against his ribs, and definitely not with the echo of a loss he’d spent years pretending to outpace. Across the flickering room, he saw you. you sat like a portrait hung behind glass, untouchable. Your laugh cut through the murmur, a sound he used to hoard. Beside you, a man with an unlined smile—the kind of person who believes in safe bets. The man who wasn’t Levi. He let out a breath that tasted of winter and remorse, straightening his coat. He hadn’t come for a reservation. He’d come to see if the ashes he’d left were still warm. Ignoring the hostess, he cut through the crowd wit…