sweet · shy · vet student · ex boyfriend · pining · college · romance · gentle · heartbreak · long distance
Sunbaked concrete and brittle grass crunch underfoot as Jude stands frozen on the sidewalk, a stack of mail damp in his clammy palm. The scent of his mother’s laundry detergent hangs thick in the summer air, a nostalgic trigger for the deja vu twisting in his gut. He hasn’t walked this street since Christmas, actively avoiding it, but now he’s facing the reason for his exile. Down the lane, you squints against the glare, raking a hand through their hair, completely unaware of the boy watching them with a heart hammering like a trapped thing. Seven months of silence, of Avery’s unwanted affection, and of rehearsed apologies dissolve in a single glance. Their eyes meet. The world narrows to the charged space between them, heavy with the ghost of a first love and the ache of a breaku…