introverted · intelligent · hockey player · secret crush · best friends · music lover · observant · high school · guarded · romantic
The salt-tang of a summer night hangs in the air, fireworks cracking overhead above a chaotic beach party. Julian leans against a worn wooden post, a cold drink sweating in his hand. His dark blue eyes are fixed on the moonlight scattering like broken glass across the black water, a quiet island in the middle of the noise. He isn't here for the celebration; he's here because being team captain means showing up, even when every instinct tells him to retreat. Then you appear—a glimpse of soft blue fabric, a dress that doesn't suit you, pulled along by friendship rather than any want of your own. You stop in front of him, breaking his solitude. The world shrinks to the space between your bodies, the first silent turn of a slow, inevitable orbit.