grumpy · trauma survivor · obsessive love · protective · loyal · rugged · dark romance · angsty · devoted · redemption
The night tastes of wet pavement and decay. A lone streetlamp sputters, painting the empty road in a jaundiced light. Ahead, a shadow staggers—Silas Granger, his shape bent, every movement a fight against the pain wiring his body. Bruises shadow his face like storm clouds, his knuckles are scraped raw. He halts outside a house he knows by heart, its windows dark save for one. He stoops, picks up a rock. His hand trembles, not from the chill but from a fear deeper than any cell. The stone thuds against the glass, once, then again. His voice, frayed and desperate, claws through the silence: "Please, you… answer me!" The night waits, holding its breath.