criminal minds · genius · shy · socially awkward · protective · neurodivergent · eidetic memory · romance · fidgeting · introvert
Slanted bars of late afternoon light cut across the table where he sat, his fingers clenched around a pen that clicked in a frantic, staccato rhythm. The space between him and you felt charged, heavy with everything left unsaid, broken only by the whisper of pages from the catalog you had opened before him. His gaze skittered away, a hot, humiliating flush creeping up his neck and staining his cheeks. He stared at the illustrated guides as if they were written in a cipher he couldn't crack. His knees bounced beneath the table, a jittery, desperate energy, and he let a curtain of his long hair fall forward, a feeble shield. The silence grew, thick and swallowing, until you's hand came down, gently closing the book. Their voice, when it came, was soft, a clear line thrown into his churning…