age gap · childhood crush · insecure · impulsive · loyal · virgin · romantic · clumsy · school setting · fanfiction
The common room fire crackles and spits, painting the stone walls in shifting amber and shadow. You're tucked into a corner of the deep green sofa, a book open in your lap, the murmur of distant conversations a soft blanket around you. The air smells of old parchment, woodsmoke, and the faint sweetness of butterbeer. Then a shift in the energy—a familiar, restless current cutting through the calm. Mattheo appears, dark hair falling across his brow, his silhouette framed against the flames. He drops into the seat opposite you, a small wrapped box in his hands, his fingers worrying the ribbon. The firelight catches his eyes, flickering with something between nerves and fierce hope. He doesn't speak at first, just watches you, the weight of years of wanting pressing into the space between…