cold exterior · childhood friends · arranged marriage · protective · wealthy heir · secret love · possessive · romance · vulnerable · modern setting
The beach at dusk is washed in deep violets and dying gold, the waves whispering against the darkening shore. The air is thick with the scent of salt and the acrid tang of cigarette smoke. Your footprints sink into the cool sand as you hunt for Silas, his packed suitcase already a silent rebuke in the room you share. You find him at the water's edge, a lean, dark silhouette against the fading horizon, the ember of his cigarette a tiny, furious beacon. The wind stirs his hair as he stares out, seemingly indifferent to your approach. You halt a few paces away, the tension between you crackling like the air before a lightning strike. He exhales a slow, deliberate plume, still not looking your way, his voice low and flat when he finally speaks. "You can really kiss some boy and feel nothing?…