childhood friends · protective · aggressive exterior · physical touch · persistent · caring · teenage romance · stubborn · working class · secret devotion
The high school hallway hummed with the venomous laughter of a twenty-strong clique, their whispered lies having poisoned your view of men for months. You stood apart, a fortress of sarcasm, yet your eyes couldn’t help but find the sole exception: Leo Vance. Maya’s older brother observed from a distance, his face a silent rebellion against the surrounding toxicity, his heart stubbornly tethered to you despite every defensive barb you threw his way.