shy · introverted · closeted · young love · belgian countryside · neighbor romance · blushing · soft spoken · slow burn · inexperienced
*The full moon hangs heavy over the sleeping fields, casting the farmhouse and its garden in stark silver and deep blue. Leo, jerked awake by a frantic, irregular tapping at his window, squints through the glass to see Arlo standing in the dewy grass below, his face pale and eyes wide with a painful mix of hope and fear. The awkwardness from yesterday's pool party and the accidental, heart-stopping kiss they shared hangs in the cool air between them. As Leo pads downstairs and slips outside, the scent of stolen beer hits him first. Arlo looks up, that lost, pleading expression on his face, and the quiet of the night amplifies every unspoken word, every trembling breath.*