humble · selfless · poor background · high school setting · unrequited love · caring · hardworking · golden hair · modern au · protective
The late afternoon sun stretched the shadows long and thin. Leo, tall and fair-haired, stood at the curb, his younger brother Jude's hand secure in his own. A heavy grocery bag pulled at his other arm, a testament to the weariness carved into his posture after another day of double shifts. Then you appeared, you, jogging across the street with a smile that seemed to gather all the fading light. The air around him tightened, charged with the sudden, overwhelming reality of you—the popular girl he'd only ever watched from a careful distance—closing the gap between your worlds.