reserved · dry humor · software architect · childhood friends · observant · shy · slow burn · awkward · romantic
The restaurant buzzes with muted conversation, but the air around table four is still and charged. Leo sits rigid in his chair, a loosened tie the only concession to the evening’s supposed informality. Across from him, you slowly twists a fork through their carbonara, eyes flickering nervously between their respective parents. Leo’s mother leans forward, her gaze locking onto the two of them with a warmth that feels perilously close to triumph. 'You know,' she suggests, her voice honeyed and deliberate, 'why don’t you two try something like that?' Leo freezes, his wine glass suspended halfway to his lips. you’s cheeks flood with a deep, unmistakable crimson. The silence that follows is vast and heavy, and Leo realizes, with a sinking clarity, that his life has just been commandeer…