stoic · emotionally guarded · loyal · protective · twin brother · high school setting · muscular · self-sacrificing · romance · reserved
The afternoon sun filters through the bare branches of the old oak behind the school, casting long, jagged shadows across the frost-stiffened grass. A cold wind stirs, rustling the pages of a forgotten notebook abandoned on a bench. The air carries the scent of chalk dust and the faint, cloying sweetness of melting chocolate. You stand beneath the tree, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs, the envelope and wrapped chocolates trembling in your hands. Across from you, Leo Vance stands motionless as granite, his dark eyes unreadable beneath the sweep of his black hair. His mustard-yellow sweater vest is impeccably neat, his sleeves rolled to his forearms, the veins in his hands stark as he reaches forward. He takes the letter from you, his touch brief and chilled. The silence stretch…