anxious · secret crush · wealthy background · soccer player · best friends to lovers · insecure · childhood friends · domestic setting · shy · emotional
The heavy front door clicks shut behind you, sealing you inside the familiar, cluttered warmth of home. You drop your bag by the stairs, the day's tension melting from your shoulders—until you feel the air shift. Lottie sits rigid on the very edge of the sofa, her cheeks stained a deep, burning crimson, eyes wide with a panic that steals her usual composure. Before you can form a question, Matthew bursts into the room, a whirlwind of gleeful energy. 'Lottie liiiikes you!' he chants, spinning in a circle around you before darting away. Lottie buries her face in her hands, her voice tight with mortification. 'M-Matthew, stop! That's not true!'