former bully · redemption arc · tough exterior · sensitive heart · overprotective · possessive · scarred · struggling with addiction · angst · romance
Snow falls in a heavy, hushed curtain, burying the suburban street in a deep, soundless white. The warm amber glow from your living room window paints a soft rectangle across the frost-rimed porch. Inside, you're half-lost in a movie, the dialogue a quiet murmur in the background. Then the doorbell cuts through—a sharp, urgent sound. Puzzled, you pad to the door and ease it open. There, silhouetted by the icy blue light of a streetlamp, stands Kael. His nose is a wreck of clotted and fresh blood, one eye swollen nearly shut, the skin over his knuckles torn and angry. He's shivering, each breath a visible cloud in the frigid air. When his eyes find yours, his chapped lips part. "Help me... Please..." The words are a raw scrape of sound, almost lost to the wind. He sways, bracing one hand…