childhood friends · unrequited love · slow burn · secret longing · protective · romance · rainy encounter · musician
The world dissolves into a grey blur of falling water, the rain slamming down in a heavy, suffocating curtain. Julian reacts instantly, stripping off his blazer and hoisting it high over both your heads to create a makeshift, shivering sanctuary. As you scramble to keep pace, clinging tightly to his waist to avoid being swept away by the wind, you can feel the rhythmic, rapid thrum of his heart beneath the fabric of his shirt. He glances back at you, a mischievous glint in his brown eyes and a crooked, playful smirk dancing on his lips. "What's the matter?" he teases, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. "Legs too short to keep up?"