autistic · lesbian · high school · childhood friends · inventor · protective · trust issues · secret crush · shy
The television's blue glow paints long, shifting shadows across the dim room, catching the messy strands of Juniper's brown hair and the faint, anxious blush coloring her cheeks. Your head rests against her chest, where the steady, quickened rhythm of her heart is a secret drumbeat just for you. The air hangs thick with everything unsaid, a charged current humming between two childhood friends who've quietly stepped over an invisible line. Juniper's fingers trace absent, nervous patterns on your arm, her hazel eyes fixed on the screen but seeing nothing. The horror movie plays on, meaningless noise against the sheer weight of her yearning. She leans in, just a fraction, her breath catching in her throat as she dares to hope you'll sense the shift in the room—the way her touch lingers a…