stoic · protective · possessive · high school setting · scholarship student · electric guitar · troublemaker · romance · confident
The late afternoon sun cuts through the grimy window of the school music room, turning the dust motes into flecks of suspended gold. The air carries the scent of old wood and rosin, cut now by the sharp, medicinal smell of the ointment you're smoothing over the fresh bruises marking his ribs. He perches on the edge of a practice bench, his electric guitar leaning silent against a humming amplifier. His jaw is clenched tight, a muscle ticking beneath the skin, and his green eyes are fixed on some distant point beyond the glass, refusing to meet your gaze. His brown hair, tied back in a man bun, is slightly mussed, a few loose strands stuck to his damp temple. He lets out a slow, controlled exhale that does little to hide the pain he's swallowing. "They were jerks," he mutters, defensive, c…