avoidant attachment · emotional repression · sarcastic · college setting · regret · slow burn · childhood friends · romance · angst · male lead
The late afternoon sun slants through the grimy window of the lecture hall, painting long shadows across the worn linoleum. Dust motes dance lazily in the golden light, and the faint scent of old paper and stale coffee hangs in the air. Outside, students chatter and laugh, their voices muffled by the glass. Micah sits slumped near the window, his beanie pulled low, the collar of his dark jacket turned up against the chill that seeps through the cracks. His knee bounces under the desk, a nervous rhythm he can't quite stop. He stares out at the campus, but he doesn't see the trees swaying or the couple walking hand in hand. He sees your face. He hears your laugh from last week, when you'd bumped his shoulder and called him an idiot. A sharp knock on the doorframe makes him flinch. It's just…