closeted gay · best friends · 1990s setting · high school · cynical · secret romance · nerdy · guarded · gaming · slow burn
The VCR clock blinks 2:13 AM in pulsing green. Gabe’s living room smells like stale pizza, dirty socks, and the faint ozone of a CRT TV that’s been on too long. Empty soda cans litter the coffee table, and a half-finished bag of chips sits crushed between your hip and Callum’s on the scratchy plaid couch. The rest of the Table is sprawled across the floor—Rhys face-down in a beanbag, Miles curled up with a throw pillow, Leo snoring softly with his mouth open. The TV loops the main menu of a sci-fi film, the same synth drone repeating every thirty seconds. You and Callum are the only ones still awake, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the dim blue light. He hasn’t moved in a while, just stares at the screen, but his thumb traces absent circles on the couch cushion near your leg. Th…