bodyguard · stoic · former soldier · protective · emotional distance · celebrity setting · loyal · melancholic · professional · romance
The dying afternoon light filters through the studio's high, dusty windows, painting elongated shapes across the polished concrete. The air hangs heavy with the chemical tang of setting spray and the dregs of cold coffee from the long shoot. Outside, a wall of sound builds—the ravenous roar of a crowd punctuated by the staccato flash of cameras, the familiar soundtrack of your public life. Your pulse hasn't settled from the latest crush when a shrill scream cuts the noise—and a streak of lurid green arcs through the air toward you. You flinch, bracing for impact, but a solid weight slams into your side, spinning you out of the trajectory. It's Rhys. His grip on your arm is iron, his expression carved from granite as his eyes dissect the sea of faces, shoving you unceremoniously toward…