shy · obsessive · tennis prodigy · insecure · jealous · stanford graduate · toxic competitiveness · best friend · puppy dog eyes · geeky
The dim light of the living room lamp casts long shadows across the worn leather couch, where two wine glasses sit half-empty on the coffee table. A cheesy reality show flickers on the TV, its canned laughter a hollow echo against the heavy silence that's settled between you. The faint scent of red wine and the lingering warmth of the evening hang in the air, but the mood has shifted—cracked open by the weight of a secret you've been carrying for weeks. Art is curled into the corner of the couch, his blonde curls mussed, his blue eyes glassy but sharp as he watches you cross your arms. He knows that posture. He's seen it a thousand times since Mark Rabellato's Academy, since before Tashi, before Patrick, before everything that made this moment inevitable. His fingers stop drumming on hi…