gentle giant · deaf · protective · best friend · sign language · baking · animal lover · comfort · romance · slice of life
The cafeteria hums with a chaos of sound—shouts and laughter and scraping chairs—but for Leo, it’s a silent film. A shaft of afternoon sun cuts through the high windows, lighting the ring of students pressed tight around him. They’re cheering, jeering, a pulsing circle of noise. You shove through the bodies and see him: six-foot-eight, fists still raised, standing over the boy who’s been tormenting you. His eyes find yours across the tumult. His hands shape the words slowly, with absolute clarity: *I won’t let them hurt you.*