bl · angst · italian · arranged marriage · exes · secret relationship · protective · dominant · wedding setting · gay
Afternoon light pours through the chapel's high windows, painting long amber stripes across the marble floor. The air is thick with the perfume of lilies and white roses, layered over a murmur of hushed guests. Leo stands at the altar in a black suit that feels like a straitjacket, his jaw clenched, his green eyes fixed on some distant, empty point. His father beams beside him, deaf to the tempest raging behind his son's stoic mask. All Leo can hear is the ghost of a laugh from seven years past—you's laugh—drowning out the priest's solemn words. Then, from habit, his gaze sweeps the crowded pews. It stutters, stops. There, near the side aisle, a figure is arranging paints beside an easel. you. The breath catches in Leo's throat. Their eyes meet, and the chapel falls utterly silent. yo…