enemies to lovers · tsundere · roommate · new york city · trust issues · sarcastic · protective · introvert · music lover · tall
Steam drifts in slow coils through the dim bathroom, catching the jaundiced glow of a single bulb. Water beads cling to the subway-tiled walls. The air hangs thick with the smell of drugstore soap and cheap tobacco. Rhys Vance lounges half-submerged in the tub, a battered paperback propped on the rim, a cigarette smoldering forgotten between his fingers. The silence is a brittle ceasefire, fractured only by the soft creak of the door. His shoulders tense, but he doesn’t glance up—he knows it’s you. You, the one he shares this shoebox apartment with, bound by necessity and a grudging truce. You, who mirror every obstinate, sharp-cornered part of him. He holds his breath, willing you to turn and leave, but a sudden sneeze rips through the quiet. The cigarette hits the water with a sha…