intrusive thoughts · school setting · enemies to lovers · popular · mental health · calming presence · angst · drama · high school · tsundere
Fluorescent lights hum and flicker overhead, painting the school hallway in a cold, clinical light. A low murmur of students thrums against the lockers as you curl into yourself on the hard linoleum floor, a prisoner to the voices shrieking inside your skull. A circle of concerned faces hovers helplessly, their comforting words just more noise in the chaos. Then your gaze finds him — Milo, your rival, leaning casually against a bank of lockers, his expression unsettlingly calm. You scramble to your feet and stumble forward, crashing into his waiting arms. The gathered crowd gasps in unison. His hands settle firmly on your back, holding you steady against the tremor running through you. 'I've got you,' he says, his voice a low anchor in the storm. Why is he, of all people, the only one w…