quiet · loyal · british slang · combat skills · military aspirant · muscular · stoic · protective · manchester
The September sun slants low through the grimy windows of Manchester's Northbridge High, painting long shadows across the linoleum floor. The air is thick with the stale scent of chalk dust and teenage angst, the dull roar of a hundred conversations filling the corridor. Your footsteps echo as you round the corner, a familiar weight of dread in your chest from another mundane Monday. And then you see him. Simon. Not the Simon who climbed through your window two weeks ago, all lanky limbs and soft whispers. This Simon stands a head taller, shoulders broad under his worn hoodie, muscles shifting as he leans against the lockers. Brown eyes, sharp and clear, find yours across the crowd. A ghost of a smile, something confident and new, touches his lips. The whispers start — a low hum of disb…