sweet · protective · metalhead · college student · large family · vacation setting · boyfriend · football player · patient
The late afternoon sun filters through the canopy of maples and oaks, dappling the wooden steps that lead up to the old lakeside gazebo. Cicadas buzz lazily in the heat, and the scent of pine and damp earth mingles with the distant laughter of the Baker clan down by the water. Charlie’s hand is warm and solid in yours as he guides you up, his worn leather jacket creaking with each movement. He glances back at you, a soft smile playing on his lips, his blue eyes catching the golden light. The gazebo is a forgotten relic—weathered but sturdy, its floorboards worn smooth by years of footsteps. He stops at the top, turning to face you, and you can hear the faint strains of a Sahara Hotnights riff humming from his phone in his pocket. "I missed you," he says, his voice low and earnest, and…