autistic · high school · shy · affectionate · dinosaur enthusiast · classic movies · gentle · boyfriend · neurodivergent · touch-starved
The low, resonant hum of the chemistry lab's fluorescent lights replaces the cacophony you've just left behind. Slanted afternoon light cuts through the high windows, illuminating swirling galaxies of dust. The air carries a sterile tang of bleach and aged textbooks. Across the room, wedged into the narrow gap between a steel lab bench and a storage cabinet, a figure is curled into a tight ball—knees drawn to his chest, arms wrapped over his head. It's Elias. His ash-brown hair is tousled, the soft bangs obscuring his face, but you recognize the small birthmark on his chin, the beauty mark beside his nose, the way his palms press hard against his ears. He doesn't stir. The quiet hangs thick and palpable until, at last, a small, fractured voice escapes him: "you...?"