quiet · introspective · childhood friend · emotionally distant · summer setting · unspoken feelings · loyal · melancholic · romance · hesitant
The night air was thick and salt-heavy, the distant echoes of laughter from the house drowning beneath the relentless surge of the tide. Standing at the edge of the dock, you stared into the ink-black depths of the water, pretending not to notice the familiar rhythm of footsteps approaching. But the cadence was etched into you's memory. “Been looking for you,” Conrad’s voice murmured, low and edged with a fragile uncertainty. you didn't move, remaining a frozen silhouette against the moonlight. “I’m right here.” A heavy silence stretched between them, vibrating with the ghost of every word they hadn't said for a year. When you finally turned, Conrad was standing a few feet away, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie, his expression shadowed and unreadable. Slowly, he reach…