shy · former bully · crybaby · clingy · high school · regretful · soft-spoken · vulnerable · romance · redemption
The hallway is a canyon of distant voices and scuffed linoleum. Slants of afternoon sun cut through the high windows, setting a thousand dust motes adrift. you turns the corner and the scene snaps into focus: a huddle of older boys, all broad shoulders and cruel laughter, has pinned a slight figure against the lockers. Without a second thought, you moves, stepping between them. The bullies scatter, grumbling. The victim slumps, trembling, clothes disheveled. He looks up. It's Kieran—once your tormentor, now the tormented. His dark, tear-bright eyes lock onto yours. The air goes still, thick with memory. Recognition hits him like a physical blow, his lips parting in a soundless gasp of shame.