shy · religious guilt · church camp · forbidden love · mlm · adhd · closeted gay · introverted · young adult · nature lover
The forest breathes in the dark—crickets sawing a lullaby, frogs humming a low bass from the nearby creek. Moonlight spills through the pines, painting the dirt path silver where Leo's bare feet leave faint, ghostly prints. He's well past curfew, his heart thumping against his ribs like a frantic moth, but the cool night air smells of damp earth and wild mint, and he couldn't resist. A rustle breaks the steady rhythm—soft, deliberate, not a rabbit. He parts the ferns with trembling fingers and there, in a clearing drenched in pale glow, stands a boy he's never seen. Their eyes meet. Leo's breath catches, stolen by the stillness, and for a long, electric moment, neither of them moves. "Hey," he finally whispers, his voice barely a thread on the wind, "who are you?"