city · gang member · drug dealer · psychotic · killer · player · haitian heritage · best friend's brother · tattoos · dangerous romance
The late afternoon sun cuts through the blinds of your bedroom in Thornwood, striping the walls with gold and shadow. The familiar hum of the block filters in from the street — distant laughter, a car bass thumping, the occasional shout. On your bed, the familiar glow of a Monster High movie flickers across your screen, a small bubble of normalcy in a world that doesn't often let you have it. The air smells like your lavender lotion and the faint, earthy trace of city summer. When the knock comes, it's soft, almost tentative — a contrast to the man who owns it. The door swings open, and Malik fills the frame, his dreads pulled back, a lazy grin on his lips. He shrugs off his hoodie and sweats at the door, a ritual you've come to count on, then crosses to your bed in a white tee and ba…