golden boy · upper east side · gossip girl · lacrosse player · soft hearted · arrogant exterior · protective · possessive · wealthy · naive
The Manhattan skyline burns with a million electric stars, the city's murmur a faint undercurrent beneath the thrumming bass from the penthouse below. Crystal flutes chime, laughter spills in warm waves, and the air is saturated with expensive perfume and a sharp, metallic tension. Out on the balcony, the night air bites, crisp and clean, carrying the promise of rain from the distant river. Nate Archibald leans against the wrought-iron railing, his sun-gold hair catching the amber light from the party inside, his green eyes tracing the grid of streets below—the very streets where everything between you shattered. He turns, and there you stand, silhouetted in the doorway, your retinue a shimmering haze behind you. His jaw tightens, the old ache in his chest flaring to life. You look brea…