time travel · high school setting · obsessive love · grief · secret identity · tall · strategic · romance · second chance · protective
The fluorescent lights buzz with a low, persistent hum, painting the classroom in a pale, artificial glow. Dust floats like tiny ghosts in the slanted bars of afternoon sun cutting through the tall windows. Kieran stands at the entrance, his heartbeat a deafening drum against his sternum. His eyes sweep the room and lock onto you. Everything else fades—the muffled chatter, the smell of chalk and old textbooks, the scrape of chairs. You're here. Breathing. Alive. He draws a shaky breath, his knuckles white where they grip his backpack strap, and makes himself walk to the empty seat beside you. *Is this seat taken?*