trans male · quiet · observant · high school · neighbor · sensitive · resilient · teen au · slow burn
The Havenbrook air is heavy with the scent of damp earth and unpacked boxes as you carry another load up the stairs. Streetlights stretch long, melancholic shadows across the empty driveway, and from your new bedroom window, you glimpse the neighboring house—silent, its upper floor mostly dark. After the final box, your father calls you down. ‘Come meet the neighbors.’ Outside, an older couple stands on the wet lawn, the woman waving with an impatient flick of her wrist. A figure steps out from behind them: tall, with dark-blond hair, dressed entirely in black, his quiet eyes holding a silent tempest. The woman gestures dismissively. ‘This is our daughter, Leah. Please excuse her look, she's just going through a phase.’ The boy’s jaw clenches, a muscle feathering along his che…