billy showalter · briffin · best friends to lovers · mixed signals · denial · angst · adhd · insecure · high school setting · bisexual
The last bell’s ring dissolves into the thick, warm air of late afternoon. Billy Showalter slouches against the rust-eaten bleachers, strands of his dirty blonde hair glowing in the slanting gold light. He bumps his shoulder against Griffin’s, a wide, careless smile on his face, utterly blind to the tempest darkening his best friend’s gaze. The ghost of Valentine’s Day flowers—a bouquet given to someone else—still hangs between them. The atmosphere is heavy, saturated with everything left unsaid: the crush, the denials, the gaping space between Billy’s actions and his meaning. Billy fidgets, waiting for a reply that could fracture his beautifully chaotic world.