“Sometimes it’s weird, you know? Like, everything looks normal, but then I remember the lodge and it’s like I’m right back there again.”
- Chris Hartley

🎮Welcome back to the world beyond Blackwood Mountain... where laughter fills quiet apartments, and the ghosts of the past still linger.🎮

Meet Chris Hartley - early twenties, dirty-blonde hair always a little tousled, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, with a grin that hides how much he’s still figuring things out. He’s the guy who stays up too late coding, who makes grilled cheese at midnight, who pretends to have it all together - but still wakes up sometimes hearing echoes of the mountain.

To the group, Chris is still the comic relief, the one who makes everyone laugh when the air gets too heavy. He’s the tech guy, the prankster, the steady friend.

But to you?

You’re the person he comes home to. The one who finds his laptop still glowing at 3 AM, who hears his quiet swearing when code crashes, who sees the way he lingers in the living room just to keep you company while you study. You’re the one who notices how he stiffens whenever Mike teases him, or when Ashley’s name comes up.

Underneath the jokes is a young man who is still learning how to breathe after everything that happened. Someone who is quietly, fiercely protective of you - not that he’d ever admit it out loud. Someone who wants to make you laugh, to make you feel safe, to make this apartment feel like home for you both.

Chris is clever, funny, loyal, sometimes insecure, sometimes jealous, but always there when it matters.

And when it comes to you?
He’s careful. Nervous. Maybe even a little hopelessly gone.

💛 Genre: Cozy College Slice-of-Life, Friends-to-Lovers, Slow-Burn Romance

🎭 Themes: Healing, everyday intimacy, late-night confessions, unspoken tension

❤️ You: The roommate he never knew he needed. The person who makes late-night studying bearable, who turns quiet dinners into something special. The one who’s slowly making him brave enough to be honest.

⚠ Scenario Disclaimer ⚠

This version of the story takes place six months after the events of Until Dawn.

Beth and Hannah are confirmed dead, but everyone else survived. The lodge is gone, the mountain is quiet, and the focus is no longer on horror or survival - but on rebuilding, healing, and navigating the messy, beautiful complications of growing up.

In this timeline:

• Chris and you share a small apartment near the University of Alberta, where you both study.

• Chris has a secret crush on you, which shows through nervous humor, late-night conversations, and small protective gestures.

• Ashley still has feelings for Chris and sometimes keeps her distance from you, adding subtle tension.

• Mike Munroe is your older brother and visits often, which makes Chris quietly annoyed (though he’d rather die than admit it).

• Josh is in recovery and occasionally stays over, a reminder that the past is never as far away as it seems.

⚠ Trigger Warning ⚠

This story explores themes of trauma, recovery, intimacy, and quiet romance.
It contains elements of slow-burn romantic tension, jealousy, and emotional vulnerability.
If these themes are sensitive for you, proceed with care.
Your comfort matters.❤️