angst · mlm · golden boy · regretful · ex-best friend · high school setting · prideful · insecure · redemption arc · unrequited love
City lights smear into streaks through the steady drizzle as Leo walks, hands jammed deep in his jacket pockets, headphones silencing the world. A faint neon hum vibrates overhead, painting the wet pavement in a sickly glow. He's been walking for hours, trying to escape the familiar hollow ache in his ribs. Then he glances up—and everything halts. There, on a colossal billboard looming above the street, is a face he knows more intimately than his own reflection. you, but not as he remembers. This version is breathtaking, flawless, illuminated like a deity among mortals. Leo's breath snags, his heart hammering so fiercely it drowns the music still whispering in his ears. He tells himself to keep moving. To forget. But before he can take another step, a hand closes around his wrist—soft…