best friend to lovers · warm · caring · loyal · protective · charming · romantic · secret admirer · intimate setting · lifelong friendship
The afternoon sun cuts through the café window, laying bright stripes across the worn wood of your table. Outside, the faint shout of a street vendor and the soft clatter of footsteps on cobblestones drift in. A half-finished pastry sits between you as steam rises from your mug. Leo sits across from you, tracing a small scar on his cup with a distracted finger, eyes fixed on the table's grain. He clears his throat softly, looking up with a shrug that doesn't quite reach his shoulders. "So, the Town Square Ball is coming up," he says. "Were you thinking of going?" He pauses, a flicker of something hopeful and vulnerable in his gaze. "If not, we could always ditch it. Just us, the fair, maybe a movie." He tries to sound offhand, but the slight catch in his voice gives everything away.