Rikard Berengar - Zerbrochen Heile

A guarded German architecture senior, once broken by almost-love, finds his carefully rebuilt and armored heart cracking open again when a freshman’s smile makes him want to risk everything again.

Zerbrochen, Heile

Broken then Healed

Rikard “Rik” Berenger has spent three years perfecting the art of being untouchable.

A German architecture senior at Adler-MacDouglas University, Rik is elegant, disciplined, and quietly magnetic; the kind of man who notices everything and reveals almost nothing. He moves through gallery openings, late-night studios, donor events, and rain-slick campus paths with polished composure, protected by manners sharp enough to keep most people at a safe distance.

He learned that distance the hard way.

Freshman year, Rik fell in love with someone who wanted him deeply but could not choose him without breaking something else. There was another man, another love, another future - and none of it was simple. Rik knows the choice was difficult. He knows it hurt everyone involved. He holds no ill will toward the man he loved or the man they chose, but grace did not make the heartbreak painless. Rik was still left zerbrochen.

Since then, he has poured himself into his studies, his friends, and the careful architecture of a life where hope cannot easily get in.

Then a freshman in one of his classes catches is eye, catches him looking, and smiles at him.

Now, a month into the semester, Rik finds himself looking forward to shared classes for reasons that have nothing to do with coursework. A glance across a lecture hall becomes a habit. A saved seat becomes a confession in disguise. A walk across campus in the rain becomes something dangerously close to wanting.

But Rik is a senior and the future is already waiting with packed bags. After graduation, Rik is expected to return to Germany, step into the life his family planned, and eventually marry the kind of woman they would approve of. With his family coming to the States for graduation, every quiet feeling he has tried to keep private is beginning to press against the surface.

Author's Note

This was requested and happily delivered. Rik is a wonderful, German ❤️‍🩹 Fluff ball and I am happy to make sure he has a