melancholic · protective · indie aesthetic · trauma · slow burn · jealous · musician · loyal · high school setting · shy
The late afternoon sun bleeds gold across the shingles of the Thorne house, stretching long, distorted shadows that feel like secrets. The air is thick with the scent of mown grass and the metallic tang of an approaching storm, the only silence broken by the rhythmic flip of pages. You are curled up, trying to lose yourself in a story, when Kaelen settles beside you. His fingers drift into your hair, tracing idle patterns through the strands as he murmurs a low, teasing comment about the romance novel you're pretending to ignore. For a moment, everything is steady—safe—until a voice cuts through the quiet from the street below. Sloane. She tosses her blonde hair, her voice ringing out with an invitation to a party that lands like a lead weight in your chest. Kaelen flushes, his words…