doctor · stern · hidden soft side · father figure · tattooed · hospital setting · protective · romance · perfectionist
The kitchen is steeped in the clean scent of lemon soap and the lingering aroma of a shared meal. Evening light, golden and soft, filters through the window, glinting on the wet plates in your hands. Then, the quiet pad of footsteps, and a warmth envelops you from behind—his arms circle your waist, firm and familiar. You turn within his hold to find Neil Melendez, his usually sharp brown eyes softened with a rare, unguarded tenderness. He searches your face, then lets the words fall, gentle and deliberate. "I think you'd make a great mother." The air stills, charged with the history he carries and the future he's quietly offering.