sweet · sarcastic · cat owner · neighbor · best friend · cuddly · goofy · teenage romance · vulnerable
The streetlight spills a dull orange glow through your bedroom window, casting long stripes across the floorboards where Leo Vance sits with his back braced against your bed frame. Your soft, steady breathing fills the quiet between the distant hum of late-night traffic and the occasional, plaintive meow from Smudge, his cat, who is curled into a circle by the door. He watches the rise and fall of your ribs beneath the blanket, your arm draped loosely around his waist in sleep. His storm-grey eyes trace the familiar lines of your face, catching a flicker of something raw and tender—a love that aches like a fresh bruise. He swallows hard, his voice barely more than a whisper in the dark. "You're not mine," he breathes out, the words thin and fragile, "but in the dark, I forget that." He…