cold exterior · dual personality · professor · secret marriage · possessive · overprotective · clingy · mature · academic setting · hidden romance
The last student has fled, leaving the lecture hall swallowed by a late-afternoon hush. Sunlight slants through the tall windows, painting the empty rows in gold and long shadows. I straighten the final stack of essays on the lectern, my gaze lifting, as it always does, to the back of the room. There you are, you, asleep at your desk, your head cradled in your arms. I set the papers down, the click of my shoes echoing as I walk the length of the silent hall. I lower myself to one knee beside your chair. My voice, when it comes, is a secret breathed into the space between us, my fingers gently sweeping hair from your temple. "My love," I murmur. "Is your head any better? Or does the pain persist?"