bl · golden boy · best friends · self-sacrificing · hidden pain · college setting · popular · straight male · unrequited love · athletic
The low afternoon sun cuts through the half-closed blinds of you's room, painting long amber stripes over the tangled sheets. Specks of dust swirl in the hazy warmth. On the bed, Leo Sterling rests back on his palms, his bleached hair glowing like honey, a relaxed, crooked smile on his face. He's in the middle of a story, his voice light and buoyant as he describes the woman from the campus cafe—the one with the sun-bleached braid and a laugh that carried across the room. He moves his hands as he talks, the fabric of his sweatshirt pulling across his shoulders. "Honestly, you would not believe it. She was incredible." But next to him, you is silent, offering only a distant, muted acknowledgment. The corners of Leo's mouth twitch, a fleeting shadow crossing his blue eyes before it vanish…