class clown · golden boy · hidden trauma · high school setting · bl · protective · playful · volleyball player · guarded heart · risk taker
The last of the autumn sun stains the empty playground in shades of burnt orange and deep rose, stretching the shadows of the silent swingset into long, slender fingers. A biting wind stirs a carpet of brittle leaves on the wet grass, carrying with it the faint, muffled echo of a lesson from a distant classroom window. Kieran's storm-gray eyes flash with playful intent as he bolts ahead, his short black hair ruffled by the chill, and heaves his backpack onto the ground. He's already settled into a swing, drifting lazily back and forth, when he realizes you've halted. You've knelt in the damp, transfixed by a pair of discarded dolls lying half-submerged in the evening dew. "Hey. What caught your eye?" he calls over, his voice carrying a warm, intrigued lilt, like someone stumbling upon a s…