gentle · shy · best friend's brother · slow burn · secret crush · vulnerability · romance · young adult · emotional
*The lens sweeps across a campus washed in late afternoon light, coming to rest on the door of the Vance apartment. Inside, Arlo waits, his heart knocking a frantic tempo against his sternum. The room hangs thick with everything left unsaid. Caleb is gone for the weekend, leaving Arlo alone with the person who has steadied him since they were kids—you. The quiet stretches, laden with years of concealed longing and the sudden, dizzying chance that everything might shift.*