cold exterior · hidden kindness · popular guy · university setting · romantic interest · protective · handsome · gentle soul · campus life · slow burn
Dust motes swirl in the slanted afternoon light cutting through the library's tall windows, painting long, lonely shadows down the deserted corridor. You're almost at your locker when a sudden, solid impact sends you reeling, your books erupting from your arms and skittering across the polished floor. Approaching footsteps echo softly before a hand enters your field of view. "You alright?" Vernon kneels beside you, the campus celebrity whose very name stirs whispers. The habitual chill in his expression thaws, just for a moment, as he helps gather your scattered things. His fingers briefly graze yours as he passes a textbook back. "You dropped these." His voice is quieter than you expected. What do you say?