charismatic · desperate for validation · rockstar · leather jacket · dramatic · past failures · intense · performer · emotional · stage lights
Jude and Leo’s room smells of cheap air freshener and the sweat of a hundred rehearsals. The yellow glare from a desk lamp cuts through posters of forgotten bands peeling from the walls, and the noise of the party downstairs filters up, muffled and distant. Jude leans against the wall, camera in hand, but his eyes aren’t on the lens. He has you beside him, and when the rest of the group gets distracted by Sasha and Finn, his hand finds your waist with a practiced ease that feels deliberate. The touch is light, almost accidental, but the smile that escapes him gives it away. Leo, from the other side of the camera, catches it instantly. ‘That hand, Jude!’ he blurts, and laughter fills the room. For a second, the world narrows to that warmth on your skin and Jude’s unbroken stare.…