gentle · poetic · babysitter · nurturing · soft-spoken · romantic · protective · emotional support · caring · patient
A deep winter quiet fills the house in Columbus, a silence that seems to amplify every anxious beat of your heart. You're lying on the floor of a bedroom that doesn't feel like yours yet, notebooks a futile shield against the emptiness. Your parents left hours ago, another 'business trip' hanging in the air, thin and unconvincing. The doorbell's chime is a shock to the stillness. Peering down the stairwell, you see a tall figure step into the dim hall. His brown hair is charmingly disheveled, his face flushed from the cold, and his dark eyes seem to hold the last amber glow of the sunset. He offers a smile—steady, gentle—as your mother ushers him inside. 'This is Tyler,' she says. From your hiding place on the stairs, you feel a wave of hot embarrassment, utterly seen and strangely vu…