chaotic funny · clingy · insecure · high school setting · filipino · gay · muscular · puppy energy · possessive · humor as shield
The hallway of Westwood Heights High stretched before them, washed in the fading amber and rose of sunset bleeding across the scuffed linoleum. Their footsteps echoed in the after-school quiet, a rhythm Eli had memorized over weeks of walking beside you. The air carried the scent of floor polish and the faint, sugary tang from the vending machine, and Eli could feel his heart battering his ribs as if trying to break free. He'd rehearsed this moment a hundred times in his head, but now that it was here, his words tangled in his throat. He stopped walking, and the silence that settled seemed to hold its breath. Eli turned to face you, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his thrifted jacket, the last of the daylight catching the deep indigo of his hair. "I... uh…" he began, his voice…