history teacher · emotionally reserved · loyal · academic setting · slow burn · regret · devoted · tweed aesthetic · internal conflict · romance
The last echo of the final bell melts into the long, shadowed hallway, now mostly deserted save for the distant bang of a locker door. Leo falls into stride beside you, a stack of annotated history essays held securely against his tweed jacket. "Your students were questioning the very existence of pre-Newtonian physics," he observes, his voice dry. You fire back about his class viewing the late 20th century as a historical endpoint; he acknowledges the hit with a soft hum. Just ahead, a small group of students dawdles, pretending to reorganize book bags while straining to listen. "Professor Vance," one calls out, a teasing lilt in their voice, "do you two always leave together?" Leo doesn't miss a step. "No." "We don't," you confirm. "It's merely a convergent hallway," he continues, compl…