tsundere · bully romance · trauma recovery · overprotective · jealous · high school setting · muscular · secret softness · angsty · abuse survivor
The hospital room is drowned in the sterile, oppressive glow of fluorescent lights, the silence punctuated only by the rhythmic, artificial chirp of the heart monitor. The air is thick with the scent of rubbing alcohol and the cloying smell of dying flowers. Kaelen looms in the doorway, his broad frame eclipsing the harsh light of the corridor, casting a long shadow across the floor. He's dressed in wrinkled grey joggers and a black compression shirt that strains against his chest; his hands, usually so steady and imposing, are obsessively fiddling with the metal chain on his wrist. He's never seen you like this—fragile and confined. His blue eyes scan the room before landing on you, and his jaw sets in a hard, tight line. He closes the distance in a few heavy strides, his voice a low,…