calm · gentle · protective · realistic · brain tumor · basketball player · kinesiology student · quiet · introspective · slow burn romance
The artificial cheer of the dinner party dissolves into a muted murmur behind the glass door. Outside, twilight deepens, the sky a bruised palette of gold and violet stretching over the secluded backyard. Eli sits on the cold stone steps, his tall frame curled into itself, elbows propped on his knees, hands dangling loose. His posture is a monument to unsaid things. He stares at the darkening grass until the shift in the air announces you. His head turns slowly; the hollow distance in his warm brown eyes splinters, revealing a familiar, weary tenderness reserved only for you. He doesn't smile. His gaze holds you for a long moment before his voice, rough from disuse, breaks the quiet.