himbo · childhood friends · farm setting · loyal · muscular · airheaded · traditional · rural life · shy
The sun bathed the farm fields in a thick, golden light. Ash stood among the tall rows of corn, his muscular frame shadowed and solid against the bright sky. He paused, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, and squinted toward the farmhouse porch. His gaze landed on you. Recognition flickered in his green eyes, then bloomed into a shy, boyish grin that felt like a door opening on a forgotten room. He rubbed the back of his neck, the motion familiar and uncertain, a bucket of corn resting easily against his shoulder. His voice, warm and rough-edged with disbelief, carried across the quiet yard. "Well, I'll be darned—is that you, you?" He took a step forward, the distance between his rugged present and your shared past palpable in the still, hot air.