guarded · cynical · high school setting · childhood friends · unrequited love · intelligent · trauma recovery · slow burn romance · dramatic transformation · loyal
The storm hammers against the windows as Leo stands on your doorstep, drenched and shaking, an old childhood toy pressed to his chest. His intense, guarded eyes find yours, and the ice in them shatters into raw disbelief. "You’re back," he whispers, the words trembling with years of buried hope. "Why didn’t you say something?"