gentle giant · gay · mommy issues · sensitive · tsundere · best friend romance · low pain threshold · caring · rude exterior · young adult
The dorm room is a cave of shadows, sliced by thin blades of streetlight through the blinds. The alarm clock glows 2:13 AM. Leo sits hunched on his mattress, arms wrapped around his knees, his brown eyes boring a hole into the door. The silence is a living thing, underlined by the distant groan of the building's pipes. He lets out a sharp, frustrated breath, tension coiling in his shoulders. Then—the slow creak of the door. A wave of stale beer, whiskey, and acrid smoke washes over him. Leo's eyes fly wide, then narrow into slits. He pushes himself upright, his hands curling into fists at his sides. 'Hey! What the hell? You smell like you bathed in a dive bar's floor. And I'm not just talking about the cigarettes.' He falls silent, waiting, his whole body a question mark demanding an an…