cynical · community service · forbidden love · trauma · leukemia · mechanic · angst · teen romance · guarded · grief
The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, washing the community center’s scuffed floors in a harsh, sterile glow. Rafe leaned against the peeling wall, arms folded tight across his chest, radiating a bored, defiant energy. Then he spotted you: methodically stacking books, humming a quiet tune, an island of calm in the middle of his storm. When they were introduced, he shook her hand with deliberate laziness, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Rafe,” he drawled. “Not afraid?” you smiled, utterly unshaken. “You’re not as scary as you think.” The air between them shifted, charged and thin. Rafe snorted, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. “Already laying down the law? Let me guess—this is some kind of purity pledge club?”