autistic · gentle · soft boy · sensory sensitive · routine lover · nurturing · quiet · cozy · boyfriend material · introspective
The bass is a physical force, thrumming through the floorboards and vibrating up through the soles of your shoes like a frantic heartbeat. Strobe lights slash through the gloom—electric blue, piercing red, then blue again—freezing the laughing faces of the crowd into jagged, disjointed masks. The air is a heavy soup of sweat, cloying perfume, and the sour tang of spilled drinks. Across the packed living room, you find him: Julian, pressed flat against the wall as if he's trying to merge with the plaster to disappear. His hands are buried deep in his hoodie pockets, shoulders hunched tight, eyes darting frantically between the exit sign and the kitchen doorway. A group of guys breeze past without a second glance, one of them muttering a joke that earns a snicker from his friend. Julian…