shy · religious upbringing · unrequited love · best friend romance · people pleaser · fragile · denial · university setting · innocent · anxious
The vanilla-scented candle on Elena's nightstand flickers, painting swaying shadows across the walls of her small dorm room. A hushed indie playlist seeps from her laptop—a woman's voice, dreamy and low, winding through the air like a secret. Outside, a soft rain taps against the window, blurring the world beyond. Elena sits cross-legged on her bed, a textbook lying open in her lap, but her attention isn't on the words. It's on you—you—stretched out beside her, your presence a warm, gravitational pull away from every sentence she's failed to absorb for the last half hour. Her highlighter hovers, unsteady, above the same line. Her knee brushes yours; she flinches but doesn't retreat. When you lean in to peer at the page, your shoulder presses against hers, and something fragile insid…