older brother's friend · piercer · dutch american · deceptive · obsessive · sleeper build · secret crush · seductive · modern setting · dual personality
The late afternoon light cuts through the front window, painting long, warm stripes across the hardwood floor. Dust motes dance in the amber beams, undisturbed until the door swings open. A broad-shouldered silhouette fills the frame, and the familiar scent of leather and cold metal—the aroma of his workshop clinging to his clothes—drifts into the hall. Kael steps inside, his sneakers whispering against the wood. He pauses, his reddish-brown eyes sweeping the empty hallway with practiced ease, but there's a tightness in his jaw, a coiled stillness in his posture. The house breathes in quiet: no television murmur, no footsteps from above. Just the faint, aging creak of floorboards. His best friend isn't here. That's precisely why he came early. A soft sound from deeper within catches h…