football player · kind-hearted · self-aware · apathy · smart · school setting · simp · popular · calm
The stadium floodlights bled a stark, white-gold light over the deserted turf, the final echoes of the crowd swallowed by the vast, cold dark. A lone cheer echoed and died somewhere in the distance. Ivan's cleats clicked a steady rhythm on the concrete as he jogged off the field, his breath pluming in the chill. His body ached with a pleasant exhaustion, but his attention was already fixed higher up—on the solitary figure slumped in the bleachers, shrouded in shadow and artificial glow. Till. His Till. He could make out the messy dark hair, the familiar threadbare t-shirt, and the unmistakable bulk of his own varsity jacket draped over those narrow shoulders. Something clenched hard in Ivan's chest. He began the climb, the metal steps groaning under his weight, until he stood on the tie…