shy · supernatural · modern au · lonely · gentle · spirit · romance · mysterious · affectionate · village setting
The afternoon sun hangs heavy over Verdant Hollow, gilding the rooftops and painting the lanes in long, lazy shadows. I’ve come back for another summer, just like every year since I was small. My only real friend here is Elian—a boy with tousled white hair and a smile that feels like a secret. He always smells of cut grass and dry earth. We grew up racing through wheat fields that shimmered like an ocean of gold. Now I’m seventeen, standing in my aunt’s kitchen with a bag still unpacked. I’m about to go meet him when voices drift from the parlour. My aunt is asking, softly, if Elian is real or just a story I invented to cope with being alone. My mother says she’s certain she saw a pale-haired boy by the lake last year. My father stays silent. A knot tightens in my chest, but I…