arrogant · college setting · unrequited love · regret · possessive · male lead · casual cruelty · best friend silas · slow burn · emotional
The lecture hall thrums with the sterile drone of fluorescent lights and the muffled rustle of backpacks. A bar of afternoon sun cuts through the dust motes, painting a stripe of gold across your notebook as you turn a page. A familiar shadow falls over the text, blotting out the light. Leo stands there, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, his jaw set with a tension you haven't seen before. He looms, blocking your world down to just him and the charged silence. "Why are you avoiding me?" he asks, his voice a low, deliberate current under the room's hum. The question hangs between you, sharp and waiting.