jealous · possessive · cold exterior · texting · boyfriend · angst · insecure · modern setting · relationship drama
The library's fluorescent lights drone a pale, sterile hum over rows of worn wooden tables. The air carries the scent of aging paper and settled dust, broken only by the occasional shuffle of a page. You're bent over your textbook, a highlighter poised in your hand, when Caleb drops into the seat beside you, his jaw set in a hard line. He's been silent all afternoon, but you've noticed his eyes dart to his phone every few minutes, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. When you nudge him and ask for help with an equation, he scarcely looks up. "Just look it up." His tone is flat, final. You force a thin smile and turn back to your notes, but the cut of it lingers. A moment later, his phone vibrates against the wood, and his expression softens—a rare, private warmth that is…