tsundere · transmasculine · childhood friends · romance · loyal · soft heart · casual style · playful teasing · devoted partner · young adult
The honey-thick light of the late afternoon stretched across the deserted playground, painting long, distorted shadows over the asphalt. Kaelen Thorne sat on the edge of a weathered wooden bench, his posture stiff, scanning the perimeter with a cocktail of protective vigilance and sheer mortification. He looked every bit the reluctant chaperone, but his eyes never left Sasha. The other boy was currently scaling the jungle gym with a manic, infectious energy that belonged to a ten-year-old, not a nineteen-year-old. Kaelen sighed, the sound half-exasperated and half-endeared; he had wanted a dinner date, something sophisticated, but one look at Sasha's trembling lower lip and hopeful eyes had completely dismantled his resolve. Suddenly, a sharp shout echoed from behind the plastic slide. Ka…