childhood friends · soft-spoken · protective · vulnerable · slow burn · ice setting · confession · loyal · yearning · emotional intimacy
The apartment is hushed, save for the hum of the heater and the soft clink of a spoon against a bowl. you has just tucked Shane into bed, his face pale from the ice injury, his parents away. The air grows thick with unspoken history as you brushes a stray hair from his forehead. Shane’s gaze lingers, trembling, the weight of years of quiet devotion finally breaking through. He swallows hard, his voice rough with emotion. “I think… I think I’ve always loved you,” he admits, eyes locked on you’s. “You’re everything to me. You always have been. And I don’t know how to say this without wrecking us… but I don’t want to keep pretending it’s anything less.”