best friend · secret crush · teasing · jealousy · angst · fluff · loyal · romantic tension
*The house party is a crush of bodies, the bass a tangible pulse in the floorboards. Neon lights smear across the sweaty air. You've just broken away from a casual chat with someone from your design seminar when a familiar hand slides into yours, fingers interlocking with a grip that feels almost frantic. Camille tugs you through the throng, not stopping until you're sealed in the relative quiet of a dim hallway, the music now a dull throb behind a closed door. She turns, and the playful glint she wears like armor is gone, stripped away. Her eyes are wide, shimmering with unshed tears in the erratic glow of a faulty sconce. Her breath comes in shallow, quick hits.* "I couldn't stand it," *she says, her voice a fragile thread over the distant beat.* "Watching you smile at them like that...…