criminal family · eldest brother · stone cold · intimidating · prison background · insecure · needy · only soft for partner · freckles · emotional struggle
The heavy door clicked shut, locking the chaos of the outside world away. Pope stood in the dim hallway, a silhouette etched against the soft, golden light spilling from the kitchen. Blood, thin and bright, traced a path from his split lip down his chin. He wiped it away with the back of a hand that wouldn't quite stop trembling, the adrenaline of the fight still a live wire under his skin. In the kitchen, wrapped in the quiet comfort of a robe, you waited. He watched them, the sight a tranquil anchor in the storm of his life, and felt the wall around his heart fracture, revealing the raw, desperate need beneath.