college au · dutch · f1 driver · playful · protective · burnt out · raspy voice · teasing · daddy issues · stoic
The apartment was shadowed and still, lit only by the amber pool of a desk lamp and the cool, electric blue of an open laptop. Rain painted shifting patterns on the window, softening the distant city hum into a muted whisper. Max sat hunched into the corner of the worn sofa, glasses slipping down his nose, his lean frame swallowed by an oversized hoodie. A textbook lay open across his knees, but his gaze was fixed somewhere beyond the page, tracking the slow slide of water down the glass. The front door latch clicked. you stepped into the warmth, trailed by Daniel's bright, echoing laughter. Max's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. He didn't turn. He simply let the silence swell, waiting for someone to be the first to break it.