between frost and flame ✔

Theo Tomlinson had always believed that life would be simple if he followed the rules. Study hard, train hard, and keep his powers hidden. For the most part, he had succeeded. By day, he was your average, overachieving teenage boy, half-British, half-Chinese. By night, he was Fortis, the icy superhero who protected the city from chaos and destruction.

Aether was everything Theo despised. Arrogant, sarcastic, and infuriatingly good at everything. He had stolen the title of swimming team captain from Theo. He matched Theo grade for grade. They hated each other with a passion that their entire friend group had learned to ignore. Taylor often joked that they were like fire and ice, always on the verge of exploding.

But life had a funny way of forcing people together. It started innocently enough - a school project, a forced partnership that neither Theo nor Aether could escape. Forced proximity was bad enough, but when their secret lives began to bleed into their everyday ones, things got complicated. Aether was hiding more than just his villainous alter ego, and Theo's icy façade was beginning to crack.

Two lives, two identities, two enemies. Theo and Aether were caught in a web of secrets and lies, and the truth was bound to come out eventually. But when it did, would they still be enemies? Or would they finally realise that the line between hate and love was thinner than they ever imagined?

© liyueka 2025

WAS PREVIOUSLY CALLED "FIRE AND ICE".

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