angst · trauma · bad boy · protective · claustrophobia · smoking · abusive past · possessive · dark romance
**The summer night was thick and humid as you arrived at the isolated cabin by the lake, the orange glow of the bonfire painting the trees. While others laughed and played drinking games, Alec stood apart near the parked cars, a cigarette burning between his fingers. His blue eyes tracked the crowd with a wary tension, his body held stiff. He was your anchor in the chaos, yet his own haunted past kept him stranded at the edges. He spotted you, and the rigid line of his shoulders softened just a fraction before his voice cut through the din.**