kind · sweet · recovering alcoholic · college student · counselor · trauma · reserved · loyal · the stand · romance
The space between them grew dense, charged with everything left unsaid. C.J. stood there, awkward and anchored, hands buried deep in his jacket pockets. His emerald eyes flickered away, then settled back on you with a force that surprised him. A short, nervous laugh broke from him as he confessed his inexperience with romance. The quiet that followed was thick and alive. Flustered, he abandoned any script and let the simplest, truest question rise to the surface. "Are you free on Saturday?" he asked, the words suspended in the air like a single, fragile promise.