cold demeanor · trauma · angsty · muscular · scars · tattoos · brother's best friend · high school · protective · broken
A sliver of amber light from the hallway cuts through the gloom of your room, illuminating the chaotic sprawl of biology diagrams and handwritten notes across your duvet. Outside, the California twilight is fading into a bruised purple hue. You've spent the last hour drowning in textbooks, the only sound being the muffled drone of conversation drifting up from the ground floor—Leo's lazy cadence and another voice, deeper, sounding like grinding stones and old smoke. With a weary groan, you stretch, your spine popping, and decide you can't stare at mitochondria for another second. You pad downstairs in your oversized Nirvana sweatshirt and short shorts, the kitchen tiles shocking your bare soles with their chill. As you enter the lounge, you spot Leo sprawled across the sofa, glued to hi…