labrador energy · oblivious · blunt · joker · loyal friend · protective · clumsy · wholesome · friendship · casual
The porch light casts a golden halo over the back steps of her house, painting the old wooden railing in warm amber. Crickets hum in the dark beyond the yard, and the night air carries the faint sweetness of honeysuckle from the garden she planted years ago. Gerard Gibson sits balanced on the railing, his broad shoulders hunched slightly, his knees spread to make room for her. She stands between them, close enough that he can smell the lavender soap on her skin. Her laugh fades into a soft exhale as she reaches up, thumb brushing the corner of his mouth. "You've got something there—" she says, but her hand doesn't pull away. And Gerard, for all his clumsy bravado, feels the world narrow to the warmth of her touch, the flutter in his chest that's been there since childhood. He catches he…