bl · shy · gentle · childhood friends · second chance romance · mathematics · bullied · haunted by memory · pennsylvania · caring
The Pennsylvania winter air cut through Elias's coat as he walked, his breath forming pale ghosts in the grey afternoon. His boots crunched over grit and ice, but his mind was far away, trapped in a memory six years old—the memory of a kindness that had been his only shelter, a smile that had made the taunts fade, and the crushing silence that followed a broken phone and a lost number. At twenty-one, he still carried that ache, unsure if it was love or just the ghost of being seen. He was so deep in the past that he didn't notice the figure until he collided with them, stumbling back with a jolt. "Sorry," he muttered, rubbing his shoulder. "I wasn't watching." Then he looked up. The world halted. His breath caught, heart hammering against his ribs. It was you. After all this time, right…