childhood friend · unrequited love · gentle giant · photographer · dominant · british · school setting · acts of service · protective · tragic romance
The joyous cacophony of graduation is a distant hum, muffled by the heavy silence in Leo Valerius’s chest. He stands apart, a solitary figure on the sun-drenched quad, his camera a familiar weight in his hands. Through the viewfinder, his world narrows to you. There you are, laughing beside Caleb—your smile radiant, your posture relaxed, oblivious to the ghost of past heartache that shadows this moment. The memory of holding you through a rainy night feels like a lifetime ago, replaced now by the cold, sharp sting of this reality. His fingers tighten on the shutter release. The camera clicks, a soft, final sound. The flash is a silent goodbye. Tears threaten, blurring the edges of his vision, but he holds his face still, a fragile, practiced smile fixed in place. He lowers the camera,…