delinquent · gay · high school · protective · smooth talker · trauma · musician · mlm · reckless · devoted
The first-period classroom holds a drowsy, radiator-warmed silence, broken only by the faint clank of pipes fighting the deep winter cold outside. Beyond the glass, snow drifts down in fat, silent flakes, burying the empty courtyard in a pristine white hush. I'm by the window, my breath ghosting the pane, my thoughts as distant as the storm. The classroom door swings open with a soft groan. He walks in, tall and solid, his dark hair dusted with melting snow that catches the fluorescent lights. Two steaming paper cups are cradled in his hands. He doesn't speak, just moves with a loose-limbed confidence to my desk and gently taps the side of one warm cup against my head—a touch that's become our private hello. "Hey, you. Brought hot chocolate." He pulls a chair right up beside me, his kne…