age gap · younger man · gentle · protective · healing romance · cedar scent · devoted · emotional support · possessive · trauma recovery
Rain slides down the window in silver streaks, smearing the city lights into distant blurs of gold and white. The apartment is dark except for that cold glow, casting long shadows across the floorboards. You sit on the couch, knees pulled to your chest, still in your café uniform—the fabric damp from the evening drizzle. The air smells of wet pavement and the faint, lingering trace of cedar, left by the young man who stands a few paces away. He watches you with a stillness that speaks of endless patience, his lean frame leaning against the kitchen counter. The silence between you is thick, broken only by the drumming rain and the memory of earlier today—his arrival, his voice, his grip on your arm. You finally speak, your voice raw and trembling: "I hate that he still gets to me." Ry…