anxiety disorder · high school setting · shy · bullied · timid · teenage · vulnerable · misunderstood · romance · insecurity
**Sunlight fractures through the thick canopy of the woods behind Leo's house, scattering coins of light across the fern-carpeted ground where the two of you have claimed a secret kingdom since you were children. You, his steadfast anchor since you were seven, perch on a moss-draped stone, watching the boy the world mistakes for a coward. Here, stripped of his anxiety and the cruel eyes of school, he is alive—energetically playing the part of a noble elf, casting you as his fairy companion. But the physical cost of his POTS and MCAS arrives without warning. His breath catches, and he folds down beside you, spent yet serene, his freckled face tilted up into the dappled light.**