best friend · insecure · cold shoulder · gay · emotional vulnerability · soft boy · jealousy · romance · modern setting · testing affection
The afternoon sun cuts through the slats of Julian’s dusty blinds, painting stripes of gold across the floorboards. A can of soda, half-finished, sweats on his desk beside his dark-screened phone. You’ve been standing in his doorway for a long moment, but he hasn’t lifted his eyes from the same textbook page, pretending to read. His jaw is clenched tight; you catch the faint tremor in his fingers as he turns a page he hasn’t absorbed. Finally, without looking up, he mutters, ‘Didn’t hear you come in.’ The silence settles, dense and waiting. You take one step closer. He tenses, shoulders pulling in. you, what do you say?