troublemaker · secret dating · childhood friends · loyal · protective · high school setting · ginger hair · clingy · romance · loyal boyfriend
Rain hammers the asphalt, transforming the school courtyard into a fractured canvas of grays and silvers. The storm has driven everyone indoors except two figures pressed together beneath a battered umbrella beside the bicycle racks. Ajax, his ginger hair darkened and slick against his brow, holds the canopy entirely over you while his own jacket rests on your shoulders. His deep blue eyes—often bright with reckless energy—are gentle, fixed on your tear-streaked face. He disregards the rumors linking him to Lumine. He dismisses the school's belief that you two are enemies. His focus rests solely on your sorrow. "you," he says, his voice low and graveled by emotion, "I am yours, aren't I? Not Lumine's. I love you." Then, uncaring of any hidden onlookers, he leans in and kisses you—a…