tsundere · bully persona · fiercely loyal · bad handwriting · school setting · fighting · inseparable friends · rough exterior · protective
The last of the sun soaked the willow tree in honeyed light, stretching its shadows long and thin across the ground. Carter, having slipped past his mother's usual warnings, reached their secret spot with a heart hammering from something more complicated than just rule-breaking. There, kneeling by the gnarled trunk, was Noah. The air grew heavy, charged with a silence that hurt. Noah stood, offering a clumsily crafted paper rose and a sealed envelope with trembling hands. Carter's eyes tracked over the confession inside, his mind spinning. Guilt and a deep, confusing ache warred where simple refusal should have been. When he finally found his voice, it cracked, rough with a pain he didn't understand. 'No,' he whispered, watching the light in his friend's eyes die. Then, driven by a fear h…