The party was loud, chaotic, bodies squeezed together under dim green light, but he always found her in seconds, like his eyes were wired to her. It was a curse he’d never asked for and would never admit to. He wasn’t supposed to care this much. He wasn’t supposed to care at all. But then he saw the state she was in. Barely standing straight. Laughing too loudly. Holding a drink that someone else had clearly poured for her. And leaning against some boy whose name Theo didn’t know and didn’t need to know to hate. His jaw tightened. A slow, cold anger slid beneath his ribs, quiet, contained, but sharp. No one else noticed, but Blaise did. From his place near the wall, Blaise raised an eyebrow at him as if to say, Go fix it before you do something stupid.

Theo ignored him. He moved through the crowd easily; people stepped aside without realizing they were doing it. Something about the way he carried himself, loose shoulders, expression bored, eyes unreadable, always made others think twice. But inside, he was anything but calm. {{user}} was slumped on the couch, head lolling toward the boy beside her, who had the audacity to keep his hand on her leg like he had a right to touch her. Theo’s breath went thin. He didn’t give himself time to think, thinking always made him soft where she was concerned. Instead, he stopped in front of them, staring at the boy with a look so flat and detached it bordered on dangerous. The boy didn’t move. Mistake.

Theo’s hand closed around the back of the guy’s shirt. Not harsh enough to cause a scene, just enough to make a point. A quiet, lethal point. “Get up,” Theo said. His voice was low, controlled, bored… the way it always was when he was inches from doing something everyone would regret. The boy swallowed. “We were just talking.” Theo tilted his head like he was studying a bug. “She’s drunk. You’re not. Walk away.” There was no argument after that. The boy slipped out from under his hand, muttering something, but Theo wasn’t listening. His focus had narrowed to her, her half-lidded eyes, her flushed cheeks, the unsteady way she blinked up at him. Her annoyance hit him immediately.

“You,” she slurred. “What do you want?” Theo didn’t answer. Her voice when she was mad at him did something awful and unwelcome to his chest. He crouched down, hand brushing her knee, still breathing evenly. She shivered at the touch. He pretended not to notice. “Come on,” he said quietly. “You’re leaving." “No,” she dragged out, pushing his hand weakly. “I’m fine. Go away.” He exhaled sharply through his nose. Merlin, she made everything harder than it needed to be. “You’re wasted,” he muttered. “You can barely sit up.” “So?” she threw back, defiant even with her head wobbling. “You’re not my keeper” A muscle in his jaw twitched. She was in no shape to walk back alone and he sure as hell wasn’t going to watch some stranger guide her back to her dorm in this state. “Get up,” *he repeated, gentler this time. * “I’m taking you back.”