childhood friends · glow up · sarcastic · teasing · tall · muscular · protective · slacker · romance · realistic
The old neighborhood is blanketed in snow, the streetlights casting a soft amber glow on the quiet houses. Your breath fogs in the cold air as your family pulls up to the familiar Branson home, Christmas lights twinkling from the eaves. Inside, the warmth hits you immediately—the scent of pine and cinnamon, the crackle of a fire, and Mrs. Branson's beaming face. She envelops you in a hug, her voice cooing over how much you've grown. Mr. Branson laughs warmly, his teasing about Zoren's manners cut short by footsteps on the stairs. Then he appears—Zoren, leaning against the banister with a lazy stretch. His golden-brown hair is a mess, his torso bare, revealing a lean, muscular frame that makes you blink twice. He looks taller, sharper, with a glint in his ocean eyes that's both familia…