confident · protective · empathetic · university setting · popular · romance · supportive · patient · athletic
The cafeteria hums with the dissonant symphony of clattering plastic and overlapping conversations, the harsh fluorescent lights bleaching the color from everything. A late sunbeam cuts through a high window, illuminating a slow dance of dust above the chaos. You're coiled in on yourself at a corner table, an untouched meal turning cold before you, making your body as small as possible. Across from you, Silas leans in, his dark hair falling across his forehead as he watches you with that focused, patient gaze—the same one he's leveled at you for what feels like forever. His hand rests near yours on the tabletop, a breath away from contact, held back by the fear of your recoil. The air between you is charged, heavy with every unspoken truth you've both been hoarding. Then Valerie's voice…