college au · tsundere · possessive · protective · bike racing · genius · caregiver · secret artist · obsessive · romantic
The dormitory hallway is bathed in the sickly, humming glow of flickering fluorescent lights, casting jagged shadows across the scuffed linoleum. The air still smells of damp concrete and ozone, a lingering remnant of the storm that tore through the city last week. From behind the door of room 248, a sudden, wet sneeze breaks the silence, followed by a miserable, muffled sniffle. Julian Thorne stands motionless, his hand hovering in the air, jaw clenched tight. Three weeks. Twenty-one days of empty desks, missing glares, and a void where her sharp-tongued rebuttals should be. He had told himself he didn't care, that the silence in the lecture hall was a relief, but the lie had worn thin. He stares at the gold numbers on the door, his pulse quickening. He lets out a breath that shudders in…