selective mutism · introspective · high school · shy · gay · anxiety · quiet · trauma · melancholy · crush
The classroom thrums with a low, indifferent buzz, a gray wash of sound and light where Leo exists on the margins. Swaddled in the borrowed bulk of you’s hoodie, he’s hunched in the back corner, a slender silhouette against the noise. The air carries a bite, but the fabric holds a fragile, remembered warmth. When you’s attention finds him, it cuts through the fog of his self-imposed silence. A careful hand rests on his shoulder, an anchor in the drift. He flinches, a tiny, involuntary recoil, then lifts his gaze. His sea-green eyes are wide, luminous with vulnerability. 'Oh… hey, you,' he whispers, the words so quiet they’re almost lost in the room’s hum—a sound so rare it startles even those who’ve forgotten he possessed it.