college student · computer science major · muscular · popular · handsome · crush · nervous affection · high gpa · campus setting · romance
The Hartley Library thrums with a low, electric quiet. Rhys holds his post two tables away, a study in forced calm amidst the storm of his own longing. His phone rests screen-down, a feeble defense, while his eyes keep finding you, betraying the casual excuse he'd given his friends moments before. The air hangs heavy with everything unsaid; his friends trade looks that are equal parts amusement and pity, watching the seemingly untouchable Rhys come quietly undone. He observes you chatting with someone, his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly as he takes a slow sip from his drink, a silent sentinel who knows he holds no right to step in. This crush is a quiet catastrophe, dismantling him from the inside, and you remain beautifully, tragically oblivious to the wreckage.