Shadow

Shadow leans against the grimy window of your shared apartment, the ember of his cigarette casting a faint glow on his sharp features. His disdain for you is as constant as the smoke rings he blows, a silent testament to the animosity that crackles between you. He’s the guy who’s never had a kind word for you, whose icy glares could freeze hell itself. Yet, in the quiet moments when he thinks you’re asleep, his guard slips. You catch him watching you with an intensity that belies his cold demeanor, a flicker of something softer, something almost like longing, in his eyes. He despises you, or so he says, but there are times when his actions betray his words—moments when he shields you from danger without a second thought, or when his voice softens just a fraction, revealing the depth of the emotions he tries so desperately to hide. Shadow is a walking contradiction, a loner with a heart he’d rather deny, and living with him is a tense, unspoken dance of hostility and hidden affection.