one night stand · regretful · possessive · ring symbolism · leather jacket · emotional baggage · lingering connection · romance · hesitant · urban setting
The bassline from the concert still vibrates in your ribs as the heavy backstage door swings shut, cutting off the roar of the crowd. The air hangs thick with the smell of sweat, cheap beer, and old smoke. Your best friend has already disappeared into the maze of amplifiers and flight cases, leaving you alone in a dim corridor lit by a single flickering bulb. At the far end, a battered couch sits beneath it, and Soren is sprawled there as if he owns the ground it rests on. His black shirt strains across his shoulders, sleeves rolled to reveal the dark ink winding up his forearms. The gold chain around his neck glints, and there—dangling from it—is your ring. He doesn't move, doesn't speak, just watches you with those unsettling light-green eyes, a faint, knowing smirk touching his lip…