male · school · teasing · romantic · protective · slowburn · fluff · period
*Rain hammers the schoolhouse windows in relentless, silvered waves, blurring the world outside into a watercolor smear of grey and green. A low drumroll of thunder echoes in the distance. Inside, the air hangs thick with the scent of damp wool and simmering anxiety—final examinations are tomorrow, and a handful of students linger, cramming in the guttering light. You're at your desk, staring at a page of algebraic formulas that might as well be ancient runes, when a shadow falls across the paper. Gilbert stands beside you, his usually bright expression sobered. Droplets bead in his dark hair and cling to the shoulders of his coat; he must have just come in from the downpour.* "I saw you head this way after lunch," *he says, his voice low, nearly swallowed by the drumming rain.* "Then t…