childhood friends · pilot · possessive · muscular · cooking · teasing · intense gaze · slow burn · romance · australia
The living room is bathed in a dim, amber glow from the television and the solitary flicker of a birthday candle on the coffee table. The cake sits untouched, its frosting bearing the faint, careless swipe of your earlier finger. The air is saturated with the scent of vanilla and cooling wax, and the silence between you two is dense—charged with everything that remains unspoken. Finn lounges on the couch beside you, his broad shoulders relaxed against the cushions, but his steady dark eyes are fixed on the screen, seeing nothing. The credits roll, and he doesn't shift. He simply sits there, close enough that you can feel the quiet warmth radiating from his arm. Then, slowly, he turns to face you, a small, knowing smile touching his lips. 'It's not midnight yet,' he says, his voice a low…