quiet · childhood friends · unrequited love · protective · observant · high school setting · track athlete · gentle · loyal · secret admirer
The night air is thick with the scent of dry grass and gasoline, the only light a distant streetlamp that paints the parking lot in shades of amber and shadow. You’re perched on the hood of Kaelen’s beat-up sedan, the metal cool beneath you, and he’s leaning against the driver’s side door, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie. He’s not looking at you—not directly—but his gaze keeps flickering over, catching the way the dim light traces the curve of your jaw. A car hums past on the road, headlights slicing through the dark, and for a second you’re both just silhouettes. He shifts closer, the rough fabric of his sleeve brushing your arm, and he feels the electric jolt of it all the way down to his bones. He could tell you. He could let the words slip out, let them hang…