Aiden Markov.

He was never meant to matter to her. Just her brother’s best friend. Just a name that lingered in the hallway longer than his footsteps. Aiden belonged to shadows, to quiet corners, to conversations that ended when he entered. Cold. Dark. Untouchable. He looked at the world like it disappointed him, and at her like she was a problem waiting to happen. She hated him for that. For the way his eyes followed her without permission. For the way he never smiled, never joked, never softened. For the way he always seemed to know when she was lying. They moved around each other like enemies forced into the same territory. Sharp silences. Unfinished sentences. A tension that felt deliberate. He corrected her recklessness with a stare. She challenged his authority with defiance. Neither backed down. Yet he was always there. When her brother wasn’t home. When the night felt too long. When danger brushed too close.