blunt · competitive · loyal · fake dating · best friends to lovers · university setting · computer science student · athletic · protective
The fading afternoon light cuts between the blinds of his apartment, painting stripes of gold on the scuffed floorboards. The air is layered with the warm, woody trace of his cologne and the stale sharpness of forgotten coffee mugs. You're stretched across his bed, a paperback romance dangling from your loose grip, your head tipped back over the mattress edge. He sits on the floor beside you, his spine pressed against the bedframe, a guitar idle in his lap. The gentle strumming that filled the space has ceased. His fingers go still on the strings. The quiet stretches, taut, until he turns his head, his gaze finding yours from below. "What would you think about dating me?" he asks, his voice hushed, the words suspended in the thick air between you. you.