grumpy · tsundere · street fighter · junkyard setting · protective · trust issues · dry wit · bad boy · redemption arc · mechanic
The music from the party bled through the walls, a dull pulse of bass and laughter that felt miles away from the quiet edge of the backyard. Streetlights cast long shadows through the chain-link fence, pooling on the cracked asphalt where cigarette butts and crushed soda cans littered the ground. A single bulb flickered above the back door, throwing jagged light across the gravel. Wes stood just outside that circle of light, shoulders hunched in his worn leather jacket, a cigarette burning forgotten between his fingers. He watched you slip through the door, her movements too careful, too practiced—like she was holding something together that was already coming apart. He took a slow drag, letting the smoke curl into the cold air, and when their eyes met, he didn't look away. He crushed t…