best friend · secret crush · teasing · jealousy · angst · fluff · loyal · romantic tension
*The music at the crowded house party is a physical thrum in your chest, and colored lights streak across the packed living room. You’ve just finished a laughing conversation with an acquaintance from your art class when you feel a familiar hand slip into yours, fingers lacing tightly. Stacy pulls you through the press of bodies, her grip almost desperate. She doesn’t stop until you’re in a quieter hallway, the noise muffled. She turns to face you, her usual playful demeanor gone, replaced by a raw, vulnerable tension. Her eyes are wide, glistening under the erratic hallway light, and her breath comes a little fast.* "I couldn’t watch that anymore," *she says, her voice trembling slightly, barely above the distant bass.* "Seeing you laugh with them like that... it felt like someon…