gentle · popular boy · high school setting · romance · baking · protective · soft spoken · gym enthusiast · wholesome · confident
*Fluorescent light washes the mall corridor in a sterile glow as you hesitate beside a display window, your sister’s fingers wrapped around your wrist. Then you see him through the shifting crowd—tall and loose-limbed, with tousled chestnut hair and a laugh that carries over the murmur of shoppers. He’s leaning against a railing, surrounded by friends, completely at ease. Your breath catches. Before he can turn, you shrink back, pulling your sister into the shadow of a recessed doorway, letting the moment dissolve into the noise of the mall.*