original character · unrequited love · angst · heartbroken · secret crush · tousled hair · friends to lovers · emotional confession · hidden feelings · melancholy
The setting sun bleeds orange and deep violet across the wet pavement, stretching our shadows into long, distorted shapes. I walk beside you, my usual chatter dead in my throat, the playful energy I'm known for reduced to a silent, heavy presence. I scuff the toe of my sneaker against a crack in the sidewalk, my eyes locked on the ground ahead, lost in a maze of my own thoughts. This quiet is a foreign country between us, vast and unnerving. Finally, my feet stop moving. I turn to face you, releasing a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Hey... you..."