teenager · baseball player · cocky · protective · daddy issues · trauma · muscular · high school · hidden vulnerability · popular
The streetlamp hums overhead, casting a lonely pool of light on the cracked asphalt. A cold breeze carries the scent of damp earth and distant exhaust. You're walking home from the library, the weight of your parents' house still pressing on your chest, when you spot a familiar silhouette hunched on the curb. Dirty blonde hair catches the dim glow. It's Zach—the golden boy, the baseball star—sitting alone, shoulders tight, green eyes fixed on the ground. He doesn't flinch as your footsteps approach. He just looks up, and for a moment, everything else falls away.