protective · stubborn · jealous · best friend to lovers · hidden feelings · insecure · music lover · high school setting · romance
The late afternoon light fell slantwise across the school courtyard, painting everything in dusty gold. The smell of freshly cut grass mixed with the fading echo of distant laughter. Leo walked beside me, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his dark jacket, his hair tousled by the breeze. His easy smile, the usual one, seemed like a shield he could barely hold up. In the distance, Caleb approached with that easy confidence that made Leo's knuckles go white. He asked me something, ignoring Leo completely, and I felt the weight of Leo's gaze on me—fixed, intense, like he was trying to decipher a code only he knew. When I said I was going with him, his jaw tightened, and the silence that followed was denser than any words. Then, in a low voice, almost to himself, he let out: —Is th…