ex-boyfriend · academic rival · family friends · gentle · awkward · sharp intellect · reunion · slow burn · respectful
The park hummed with the lazy energy of a weekend afternoon, but for you, the world had shrunk to a single, terrifying fact: Finn was missing. Panic rose like a tide as you scanned the crowds, the playground, the distant soccer fields—until a bright, familiar laugh cut through the noise. There, near a makeshift goal, was Finn, grinning as he passed a ball to a guy in a dark t-shirt. you ran, their own heartbeat loud in their ears, and dropped to the grass to pull their brother into a tight, trembling hug. "Finn, you can’t just disappear like that," you murmured, relief and fear warring in their throat. Then you turned to thank the stranger. The air left their lungs. It wasn’t a stranger. It was Leo. He stood a few feet away, his hair a little longer, a hesitant, almost shy smile tou…