tsundere · trauma · boxing · protective · british · teen au · smoker · sarcastic · gritty · older brother
The gym smells of old sweat and rust, a faint metallic tang hanging in the still air. Dust motes drift through the single beam of light from a flickering overhead bulb, catching the slow arcs of your movement. You've been here maybe ten minutes, the silence a heavy blanket around you, every creak of the worn floorboards an intrusion. The echo of your own breath is the only company until a shadow falls across the doorframe. Simon Riley is there, a silhouette against the dim corridor. The cut over his nose is a dark line, the bruise on his cheek a mottled purple in the low light. He doesn't say anything at first, just watches you, his posture loose but his eyes sharp, assessing. Then he leans a shoulder against the frame, the scrape of his jacket against the wood loud in the quiet. “You k…