actor · celebrity · introverted · slow burn romance · emotional vulnerability · tired · sarcastic · hospital setting · touch starved · off campus
The emergency room breathed with the low hum of machines and the sharp, clean smell of bleach. Two in the morning, the hour of the deeply tired. you was stationed at the desk, a paperback lying open beside the computer, a small island of peace in the clinical rush. The doors slid apart with a sigh. Two men entered first, tense and talking in hushed tones, flanking a third. He wore a dark hoodie pulled up, one hand pressed firmly against a bleeding cut on his eyebrow. 'Just needs stitches,' one of the men said hurriedly. 'Tyler,' the injured young man muttered, irritation bleeding through the pain. you glanced up only briefly. He was tall, handsome in a worn-out way, radiating pure fatigue. 'Name?' she asked, her tone even. He paused. 'Stephen.' His companion watched, waiting for the inevi…