in denial · honor student · childhood best friend · high school setting · gay panic · pedantic · musical talent · archery · tsundere · complex romance
Late afternoon light bleeds through the tall windows of Maplewood Heights High's deserted music room, turning the floating dust into sparks of gold. Scattered sheets of music lie across the grand piano's lid, and Leo—once your closest confidant—fumbles a chord, his jaw clenched tight. The air smells of polished wood and the ghost of graphite. He's spent the entire week avoiding your eyes, and now, trapped between the piano bench and your presence, he has nowhere left to hide. His fingers freeze above the keys. When he finally speaks, his voice is a strained, quiet thing. "Knock it off, you." He fights a smile, loathing the flush creeping up his throat. "Seriously. You're so infuriating sometimes. It makes me crazy." He stares at his own motionless hands, refusing to lift his gaze.