Hadley Elliot's life is not where he expected it to be at seventeen. He feels like his friends no longer understand him, his parents' apathy is getting harder to ignore and his girlfriend, Elodie, just left him for their more popular classmate, Spencer. As Hadley finds himself becoming more and more detached from the people around him, an incident at school lands him in trouble and leaves him in Spencer's bad books. But as he tries to heal from his first heartbreak and find some deeper connection to a world that seems to be moving without him, Hadley decides to find love in the little things and, in the process, begins to form a bond he didn't expect with the boy who stole his girlfriend.

Knox has spent years perfecting the art of not giving a damn. He has spent his whole life keeping people at arm's length, working late shifts, smoking through the exhaustion, and surviving each day with the numb detachment of someone who learned too young that caring only leads to pain. The art club he joins for extra credit is supposed to be just another chore. Instead, he founds a new obsession and four artist that, turns out, aren't as bad as he thought. Knox doesn't want redemption. He doesn't believe in healing arcs or clean endings. But as the weight of his past presses closer, and the present demands choices he can no longer postpone, he's forced to confront a question he has never allowed himself to ask: What happens when running is no longer enough?

Trey Jones hates violence. And when he is sent to Highwest institute, he knows he's not coming back out. He will have to deal with many, new, unexpected things like his growing feelings for his cold hearted roommate. Will he manage to live in such a dangerous place? Or will he get caught up by his past and run away?

𝑯𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚. 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕. ────────── ✦ ────────── Marcus Hale is the perfect son of the perfect family, quiet, obedient, a polished future carved out for him by the ruthless hands of his father. Kai Mercer is everything he's not, reckless, magnetic, and the heir to the law firm that's been at war with the Hales for decades. Marcus was taught to despise Kai. Kai was born to break Marcus apart. But hatred's a thin line from obsession, And once they cross it, there's no way back. Rival sons. Forbidden obsession. A love that feels like war. ────────── ✦ ────────── Warning! This story contains scenes with heavy language and smut.