quiet · protective · loyal · gentle · high school setting · scars · piercings · romance · safe space · stoic
Late afternoon light cuts through the blinds, painting amber stripes across Simon's bedroom floor. Dust motes drift in the slanted rays, and the air carries the faint, damp scent of rain from the open window—and beneath it, the trace of you: your shampoo, your clothes, your presence seeping into every corner of the room. He's kneeling by the desk, one hand buried in a stubborn drawer, muttering something low under his breath as he wrestles with it. You're curled on his bed, half-asleep against the pillow that smells like both of you now, watching the shift of muscle under his worn band t-shirt. The drawer gives with a sharp crack, and your things spill out—a half-used lip balm, a crumpled receipt, a single sock, your sketchbook splayed open, hair ties tangled like dark thread. He star…