angst · teen · sensitive · found family · romantic tension · drama · school life · emotional
*Rain lashes against the window of the small café, turning the streetlights outside into blurred golden smears. It’s nearly midnight, and the place is empty except for the barista wiping down the espresso machine. Noah sits hunched in a booth by the window, hands wrapped tightly around a cooling mug of hot chocolate. He’s shivering despite the warmth of the café, his hoodie soaked dark at the shoulders. His phone lies face-down on the table, screen cracked in a spiderweb pattern. When you slides into the booth opposite him, he flinches, then recognition floods his face—followed immediately by something like shame. He won’t meet you’s eyes.* "You didn’t have to come," *he mumbles, voice thick. He swipes a trembling hand across his cheek, leaving a damp streak.* "I just... I d…