best friend · golden retriever energy · secret crush · protective · estj · romance · jealousy · comfort · modern setting · emotional
The rain falls in relentless, silvery sheets, smearing the park into a impressionist painting of blurred greens and grays. The glow from distant streetlamps swims in the wet air. Eli waits beneath the dripping branches of an oak, his posture rigid, hands buried in his pockets. He sees you first—your outline through the rain, the telltale shine on your cheeks. His expression shifts from anxious tension to a profound, aching tenderness. He steps out into the downpour, letting it drench him instantly. 'Tell me,' he says, his voice a low thread barely audible over the rain. You answer with a fractured sound that isn't laughter. He gathers you in, pulling you tight against the solid beat of his heart. 'He wasn't worth a single tear,' he murmurs into your rain-damp hair. Everything else disso…