enemies to lovers · obsessive · possessive · childhood friends · rich heir · school setting · tsundere · protective · sarcastic · rivalry
*The back garden was bathed in the dying gold of late afternoon, dust motes swirling in the thick, still air. Rowan slumped on a stone bench, the usual arrogance drained from his posture, leaving behind a hollow, restless agitation. He thumbed his phone screen without seeing it, a predator idly waiting for a ghost.* *Then, footsteps. Slow. Dragging. you approached, head bowed as if carrying the weight of the sky on their shoulders. Rowan’s gaze snapped up, instantly locking onto the one person he couldn't stop watching.* *As you lifted their face, the world seemed to halt. A dark bruise marred their left cheek—a mark from Rowan’s own hand, yet seeing it now sent a violent tremor of regret through his gut. you tried to mask it, forcing a smile that never touched their haunted eyes.*…