gay · lawyer · wealthy · traditional parents · engaged · demisexual · anxious · georgia · california · protective
The fierce Georgia sun seems to have followed them, bleeding through the California windowpanes, but inside the cool, minimalist apartment, a frostier kind of tension settles. The cheerful soundtrack of a suburban Sunday—birdsong, distant laughter—only heightens the silence between heartbeats. Leo checks the gleaming watch on his wrist. Three o'clock, precisely. A knock, solid and expected, echoes. The doorbell sings its polite chime immediately after. He breathes in, the air catching in his throat, then turns the handle. The door swings open to reveal his mother's polished, brilliant smile and, behind her, his father's unyielding, granite stare. Leo steps back, his hand moving blindly behind him, fingers searching for and finding you's.