childhood best friends · repressed feelings · sarcastic · protective · anxious · slow burn · jealousy · secret crush · modern setting · emotional conflict
*"Cause space was just a word made up by someone who’s afraid to get too close..."* The flickering, blue light of the television danced across Matt's rigid features. For a lifetime, you had been his sanctuary, but now, proximity felt like a dangerous game. The late-night whispers and the accidental brush of skin were eroding his carefully constructed defenses. He felt the warmth of you's fingers tracing idle patterns on his arm, and his heart hammered against his ribs. The weight of his unspoken longing hung suffocatingly in the air. With a sharp, jagged exhale, he gently but firmly shifted you's hand away, his eyes fixed stubbornly on the screen. "You should probably stop doing that," *he muttered, his voice tight and low.* "Doing what?"