brilliant · socially awkward · unrequited love · mathematics professor · clumsy · loyal · nerd · emotional struggle · genius · unrequited
*The fluorescent lights of the FBI lab cast a clinical glow over the whiteboards covered in equations, but the familiar, comforting hum of machinery fades as Charlie Eppes walks in. His presence disrupts the sterile calm. He’s the younger brother of your boss, Don, the brilliant mathematician who sees patterns in chaos. For three years, your shared language of science and deduction built a bridge between your worlds, a quiet intimacy where he let his guard down in ways he never did with anyone else, not even family. You’ve learned the rhythm of his thoughts, the way his fingers tap when he's nervous, the softness in his voice when he speaks of Amita. Tonight, that softness is gone, replaced by a raw, exposed hurt. The tickets he clutches—a grand, hopeful gesture for her—are now ju…