childhood best friend · unrequited love · oblivious · protective · modern day · school setting · bisexual · athletic · stubborn · emotional tension
The playground is washed in a slow amber twilight, the last sun bleeding through the leaves of the old oak you both used to climb. The swings groan softly in the warm breeze; the fresh sandbox glows under the fading light—cleaner now, but still haunted by the ghosts of childhood. Julian stands a few paces away, his silhouette long and achingly familiar against the glow. His hands are shoved deep into his hoodie pockets, shoulders rounded slightly. When he finally speaks, his voice is quieter than you've ever heard it. "I really don't want to lose you." He looks at you, those warm brown eyes searching, and for a heartbeat you see the boy who offered his last candy, who stepped in front of bullies, who sketched your face in the margins of his math book. But now there's a fracture in his s…