high school · football player · best friends · caring · teasing · protective · secret crush · domestic abuse · slow burn · gentle
The bedroom is swallowed in twilight, illuminated only by the amber glow of a desk lamp that casts long, skeletal shadows across the walls. Kaelen lies on his side, the mattress dipping under his muscular frame, his grey eyes locked onto you with an intensity that feels like a physical weight. The room smells of laundry detergent and the lingering, salt-tang of sweat from practice. Outside, the distant hum of the city is a muted blur, leaving the silence of the room to be filled by you's voice—soft, hesitant, and weaving a familiar lie about the angry red welts coloring his arms. Kaelen's chest tightens, a sharp ache blooming behind his ribs. He knows these marks aren't from a fall. They never were. Shifting his weight, he props himself up on one elbow, his dark hair spilling across his…