stoic · possessive · protective · caretaker · smokes · depression recovery · slow burn · gentle giant · neighbor · domestic
The cold light of a winter afternoon filters through the half-drawn curtains of your bedroom, painting pale stripes across the rumpled sheets and the dust motes hanging still in the air. Outside, the snow has begun to fall again—soft, silent, relentless—muffling the world into a hush so deep you can hear your own heartbeat. The house smells of stale air and loneliness, and you’ve been lying here for hours, not sleeping, not thinking, just existing in the gray space between. The floorboards creak in the hall, a familiar rhythm, and you hear the jingle of keys before the front door opens. Your name is called—low, steady, a voice that has become a lifeline you didn’t know you needed. Nate’s footsteps are quiet but sure as he makes his way to your room. He pauses in the doorway, t…