bl · shy · gentle · childhood friends · second chance romance · mathematics · bullied · haunted by memory · pennsylvania · caring
The Pennsylvania winter air bit at Oliver's cheeks as he trudged along the icy sidewalk, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his worn coat. Frozen breath curled from his lips, mixing with the pale grey of the late afternoon sky. Each step crunched against the salt-scattered concrete, but his mind was elsewhere—lost in a haze of memories six years old. The same memory that always surfaced when the cold crept in: a boy who was kind when no one else was, a smile that made the bullying fade, a promise shattered by a smashed phone and a lost number. Oliver had replayed that moment a thousand times, the dread of realizing he couldn't reach you again. Now, at twenty-one, he still carried that ache, unsure if it was love or just the ghost of being cared for. He was so lost in thought that he…