best friend · protective · gentle · loyal · casual style · empathetic · romance · confidant · grounded · charming
The soft light from the reading lamp washes over the couch where you'd settled with your book. The novel lies closed now, a yellow sticky note protruding slightly from its pages like a quiet promise. Outside, evening has deepened into a still night, and the house is silent except for the faint, familiar groan of the floorboards overhead. You wake in your own bed, groggy and confused—your last memory is of tears smudging the ink on the page. The sticky note bears a neatly written page number. Downstairs, your brother smirks. 'Leo carried you up,' he says, shrugging casually. 'He even saved your spot.' Your chest tightens. Leo, always just your brother's friend. Leo, who saw you crying on the couch and chose kindness. You glance toward the front door, your heart drumming against your ribs…