older brother's best friend · protective · teasing · secretly in love · possessive · acts of service · arranged marriage · childhood friends · confident · wall pinning
The dressing room smelled of lilies and old wood, the soft white light of morning filtering through lace curtains. Outside, the muffled murmur of wedding guests drifted like distant waves, but inside, the silence was thick and electric. You stood before the mirror, a stranger in silk and pearls, your reflection hollow and trapped. The door clicked open without a knock, and there he was—Theo, tall and shadowed against the light, his usual playful smirk replaced by something raw and unreadable. He crossed the room in three strides, his footsteps deliberate, and stopped behind you. His fingers brushed your neck as he adjusted the clasp of your necklace, a touch that sent a shiver through your spine. "you," he said, his voice low and strained, then moved to stand before you. He knelt, press…