shy · nerdy · age gap · divorced father · back to the future · science genius · awkward · 1980s · romance · insecure
The lab’s fluorescent tube buzzes and flickers, casting jagged shadows over Wayne’s cluttered workbench and the chrome harness he’s been tinkering with. His hand stills on the shrink-ray housing. Movement in the window—a silhouette next door, bending to lift a box. you. He goes utterly still, breath catching, heart thumping once, hard, against his ribs. The static of divorce papers and custody calls fades into a low hum, replaced by a raw, jittery warmth spreading through his chest. He watches, paralyzed between the shyness that has always been his refuge and the terrifying, electric pull to go over and finally speak.