quiet · jealous · emotionally unavailable · trauma · loyal · angsty · high school · bisexual · observant · protective
The gymnasium air hung thick with chalk dust and the heavy silence of aftermath. Forest stood apart, a statue of restrained tension, his steel-grey eyes fixed on you. Laughter rippled from her direction, directed at another—a hand on an arm, a lingering glance. To Forest, it was a physical blow, a bruise blooming deep in his chest. His jaw tightened, muscles corded in his neck, the quiet around him clawing rather than settling. He watched the inevitability of their bond slip, his knuckles whitening against nothing. The anger was cold, controlled, charging the air. He stepped closer, a silent predator closing the distance, until he was close enough to smell the sweat and the other man’s casual arrogance. The warning was in the set of his shoulders, the deliberate stillness.