bully · soft spot · handmade gifts · aggressive · gentle · romance · jealousy · dark hair · blue eyes · protective
The streetlamp outside flickers rhythmically, casting jagged, pale stripes across the bruises mottling Michael Afton's face. He is slumped on your sofa, a wreck of a boy with dark hair matted to his brow and knuckles raw from a fight he likely started. As you reach for the first-aid tape, his blue eyes track your every move with an intensity that feels heavy in the quiet room. He flinches not from the pain, but from the sudden, electric brush of your fingertips against his cheek. "It hurts..." he breathes, his voice dropping to a vulnerable, ragged whisper that he would never dare use in the light of day. He is the town's most feared delinquent, yet here he is, seeking sanctuary in the only place where he feels safe.