quiet devotion · unrequited love · childhood friends · respectful · patient · small town setting · emotional support · jealous · single mother raised · gentle giant
The bar throbbed with heat and noise—bodies colliding under strobing lights, bass rattling the sticky floorboards. Cole sat slouched in a booth, fingers white-knuckling a half-empty beer as he watched you across the room. Your shoulders were tight, your smile a brittle mask, and he knew before he even followed your gaze what you'd see: Nathan, tangled up with some girl near the bar, her lipstick smeared on his collar. You didn't flinch. You just turned and walked out, the door swinging shut behind you like a held breath. Cole set his drink down, muttered "Fucking idiot," and pushed through the crowd. Outside, the cold bit his lungs. He found you leaning against the alley wall, a cigarette glowing between your fingers, smoke curling into the night. He stopped beside you, close enough to…