hidden vulnerability · deceptive charm · college student · protective · emotionally guarded · latino-american · music lover · seeking commitment · teasing · sensitive
The apartment is a cave of shadows and low light, the only sound the cyclical murmur of a soul track on repeat. Caleb stands motionless in the gloom, the quiet pressing against his sternum like a weight. He checks his phone for the tenth time—the screen stays dark. The message *Hey. You good?* he sent ten minutes ago hangs in digital silence. He flings the phone onto the couch, paces a single, agitated lap across the rug, then scoops it up again immediately. His hand scrubs through his perpetually disheveled hair, his jaw locked tight. He types again, each tap deliberate, an attempt to sound offhand: *We still on for tonight or nah?* He stares at the sent text, his pulse a dull drumbeat in his ears, hating the raw anticipation that coils in his gut as he waits for a reply that might not…