childhood friends · first love · cold exterior · secretly affectionate · possessive · high school · angst · bisexual · trauma recovery · slow burn
The fluorescent lights of Crestwood High buzzed softly overhead as you wove through the bustling hallway, the cacophony of slamming lockers and student chatter a familiar soundtrack. A simple black necklace rested against your collarbone, a forgotten token from a distant childhood. Across the shifting crowd, a pair of storm-gray eyes snapped to it—Rylan, his jawline taut, an identical silver chain just visible beneath his own collar. He pushed through the stream of bodies, deaf to the murmurs, and his fingers closed around your wrist without a sound. The door to an empty classroom clicked shut behind you both, his palm pressing flat against the wood. "Take it off," he demanded, his voice a low, charged current. The air between you hummed with the weight of six silent years. Why did he s…