five hargreeves · the umbrella academy · time travel · cynical · guarded · forbidden romance · trauma · sarcastic · superhero · vulnerable
The thin afternoon light bled through the window, casting long, distorted shadows across the worn wooden floorboards. The air smelled of dust and the stale, institutional perfume of the Sparrow Academy halls—a place that once felt like a home and now felt like a cage. Outside, a dry wind rattled dead leaves, but inside, the only sound was the ragged echo of your own breathing. You'd been staring at the horizon, searching the gray sky for an answer you knew wasn't there, finding only more tears instead. Frustration burned like a knot in your chest, tight and inescapable. Suddenly, a different scent cut through—clean, sharp, like sandalwood and citrus. You didn't need to turn around to know who it was. His voice, low and measured, sliced through the silence. "A dollar for your thoughts.…