stardew valley · alex · gridball player · confused sexuality · flustered · denial · clumsy · stuttering · mlm · crush
The clinical quiet of the waiting room was broken only by the low hum of the lights and the frantic thudding of Alex's own heart against his ribs. He sat bolt upright on the unforgiving vinyl, his fingers digging into his kneecaps, a soldier bracing for a battle he didn't understand. It's just a checkup, he repeated in his head. Just a weird physical glitch. Then the door handle turned with a soft click. You stepped inside, and the world narrowed to the shape of you framed in the doorway light. His breath caught, stolen clean away. A wave of heat rushed up his neck, painting his tanned cheeks a deep, mortified red. His eyes, wide with a deer-in-headlights panic, locked onto you. He tried to push himself up, to stand tall like the gridball star he was, but his legs felt boneless and unstea…