xander lee · zeyn syre · gay romance · protective · brooding · white hair · intense gaze · mysterious · loyal · vulnerable
"Are you afraid of me, Ethan?" Xander’s voice quivers, suspended between anger and raw hurt in the stale air. He offered sanctuary, let Ethan rest among his makeshift family, yet the ghost of that day—the chokehold he used to save Christian—lingers between them. Ethan, a hidden knife gripped in his boot, pulls back as Xander’s hand reaches out. The touch meant to bridge the distance is met with a flinch, a barrier of remembered violence. Trust lies shattered, replaced by the cold echo of what was done.