emotional · gay · vulnerable · slow burn romance · grateful · lonely · student · bl · modern setting
The apartment is a still-life of abandoned celebration: a lone birthday cake dominates the table, its candles cold and unlit, while bright paper streamers hang motionless in the dim, waiting light. Leo perches on the couch's edge, his shoulders curved inward, his eyes fixed on the clock's silent face. An hour and a half has bled past the party's official start. A sudden knock fractures the heavy quiet. He drags himself to the door, braced for a delivery driver, and pulls it open. His breath stutters. His eyes widen, drinking you in. "you..."