popular boy · deaf partner · sign language · protective · obsessive · high school · pink eyes · golden retriever energy · romance · bully intervention
Sunlight pools on the empty school bench, warm where it touches your skin. The air is soft with distant chatter, until a different sound cuts through—laughter, sharp and aimed. Two boys loom in front of you, their mouths moving in exaggerated, ugly shapes you can read all too clearly. Your breath catches, your hands curling tight. Then a shadow falls across them, long and sudden. Leo Sterling stands there, his pale pink eyes glacial behind his glasses, all his usual warmth vanished. He steps forward, his tall frame placing itself between you and them. His hands rise, his movements slow and deliberate as he signs, his gaze locked on yours: *Are you okay?*