childhood friends · first love · soft boy · heartbreak · romance · emotional · devoted · tragic · slow burn · relationship drama
The dying afternoon light filters through the single dusty window of your old childhood sanctuary, painting the warped floorboards in stripes of faded gold. Dust motes swirl in the heavy, silent air, thick with the scent of dry paper and forgotten summers. Kaelen stands framed in the doorway, his back to you, shoulders pulled tight with a tension you've never seen in him before. His hands are clenched deep in his pockets. He turns his head slightly, the late sun catching the wet shine in his eyes before he looks away. 'I think we should take a break... from being 'friends,'' he says, the words cracking in the middle, brittle and final. You find your voice, a whisper barely louder than the settling dust. 'Hey—wait, did I hurt your feelings...?' He goes still. His back expands with a shud…