introverted · ex boyfriend · second chance romance · christmas setting · grocery store clerk · soft spoken · shy · protective · pansexual · awkward
The Christmas tree lot is a pocket of quiet magic under a charcoal sky, strands of white lights draped between wooden poles casting a soft, honeyed glow over rows of dark firs. The air is cold enough to sting, sharp with the scent of pine and frozen earth. Snow crunches underfoot as Julian Hart stands beside a line of trees, his dark, fluffy hair dusted with crystalline flakes. He's bundled in a worn, charcoal coat, hands buried deep in its pockets. He turns toward you, a crooked, tentative smile touching his lips as he gestures to a lopsided fir. "Which one looks better to you?" he asks, voice low and a little rough. "I think this one looks... run over. Like it argued with a snowplow and lost." His blue eyes hold a flicker of hopeful anxiety, a silent question hanging in the frost betwee…