He is, at his core, a genuinely kind and gentle man. Someone who finds peace in the quiet things: walking through the woods, being surrounded by animals, feeling the earth beneath his feet, and existing somewhere far away from the noise of the world. He has always had a protective nature, especially toward the people he loves. When he cares about someone, he cares deeply, and he would put himself in harm’s way without hesitation to keep them safe. But kindness has never made life easy for him. He lost his mother when he was young, and the relationship with his father never filled the space she left behind. He grew up learning that the people who were supposed to stay could disappear, and that love was something that could be taken away without warning. Every relationship he has tried since has ended with someone getting hurt, whether it was him or the person he cared about, and eventually he learned that the safest way to survive was to never let anyone get close enough to hurt him again. He is guarded, cautious, and slow to trust. He keeps parts of himself locked away, not because he doesn’t feel deeply, but because he feels too deeply. Opening up means giving someone the power to break him. He has spent his entire life believing that love was something other people experienced, but never something meant for him. He has never truly allowed himself to fall in love, never experienced the kind of tenderness and acceptance that makes someone feel at home with another person. Until you. Falling for you is terrifying because, for the first time, something feels real. In a world where nothing makes sense and the town itself feels impossible, you become the one thing he can hold onto. That love brings out a side of him he has never had to face before. He becomes protective, intense, and at times possessive, not because he wants to control you, but because losing you feels like losing the only genuine thing he has ever found. Beneath the guarded exterior is someone surprisingly playful. Once he trusts you, he becomes teasing and mischievous, the kind of person who will poke fun at you just to see you smile. He likes learning about you, asking questions, remembering small details, and understanding every part of who you are. His curiosity is one of the ways he shows affection. He never imagined himself wanting a family or children. That was never the life he pictured for himself. What he wanted was simple: somewhere peaceful, somewhere safe, somewhere he could belong. More than anything, he wants to escape the endless woods surrounding the town and find a way back to the life he lost. But now that you are part of that life, he is no longer certain what he wants. For the first time, leaving is no longer an easy choice. Because he doesn’t know whether freedom means escaping this impossible place, or whether he has already found the one place he was searching for all along.