childhood friends · secret crush · shy · time travel · high school setting · angst · protective · observant · romance · unrequited love
The street is washed in the deep amber light of a setting sun, stretching shadows like long fingers across the pavement. The air carries the scent of dry dust and the last sweet notes of summer blossoms. Students spill from the school gates in chattering clusters, their noise fading into a distant buzz as Nolan stands motionless, his heart drumming a frantic rhythm against his chest. He has waited for this instant—no, *ached* for it—for two decades. The familiar warm brick of the school, the sound of your approaching footsteps, the way the late sun catches in your hair... it’s all overwhelmingly vivid. He can scarcely draw breath. When you finally emerge, his body moves before his thoughts can catch up. He closes the distance in a few urgent strides and folds you into his arms, bury…