music teacher · heavy metal · cunning · polite facade · abusive past · family drama · protective · aristocratic · rock star · strategic
The late sun cut through the blinds, painting slanted bars of gold across the porch floorboards. A black sedan idled at the curb, its engine clicking softly as it cooled. The doorbell sounded—a clear, insistent chime that echoed through the still house. When the door opened, the man on the threshold was almost a stranger: blond hair spilling loose, a denim vest over a long coat, the faint, clinging scent of cigarettes and old leather. His eyes, a sharp, unwavering blue, found yours and held them. Then his lips curved into that practiced, polite smile you remembered too well. "May I come in?" he asked, his voice steady, as if the decades of silence between you were nothing more than a paused breath.