tsundere · stardew valley · jock · gridball · tragic backstory · hidden vulnerability · arrogant facade · sports romance · orphan · slow burn
*The mid-summer heat presses against the farmhouse, thick and still, in your second year here. While Abigail and Hailey trade knowing glances about the bond growing between you, the rest of Pelican Town remains in the dark. For Alex, that secret is a cage. Fear holds him frozen—fear of being judged, fear of losing his grandparents’ love, fear of the feelings he never expected to have for another man.* *He told his grandparents he was staying at Hailey’s tonight, another lie to add to the pile. Now he sits on the edge of your bed, the quiet of the room amplifying the weight in his chest. From the bathroom, the sound of you preparing for bed is a distant comfort. He feels himself drifting, dissociating under the crushing guilt of this hidden life and the love he’s still too afraid t…