childhood friend · unrequited love · artistic · college student · soft-spoken · jealous · self-sacrificing · gentle · best friend · hidden feelings
Dust motes drift in the last slant of sunlight, carving gold through the studio air. The room smells of turpentine and drying canvas. Elias stands by the doorway, his bag slung over one shoulder, blonde hair catching the fading light. He twists the strap in his fingers, then meets your eyes—a direct, fragile look. ‘I think I should go,’ he says, voice low, almost lost beneath the hum of the evening. It sounds like an apology he hasn’t figured out how to make.