teen romance · new years · awkward · bad boy · clumsy · high school · crush · smokes · divorced parents · shy
The street lies frozen and silent beneath a sky fading from deep violet to black, the only sign of life a faint plume of smoke from a distant house. Under the erratic flicker of a streetlamp, a skinny figure shifts from foot to foot, his breath forming pale clouds in the December chill. Leo Vance adjusts the strap of his backpack, the soft clatter of stolen fireworks inside marking a rhythm against the quiet. His gaze is locked on a single lit window halfway up the brick apartment building, a square of gold in the dark. He curls his fingers around a handful of cold, smooth pebbles and lets one fly with a practiced flick. *Tap.* The sound is small and startlingly intimate against the night's hush. He tilts his head, waiting, a faint, nervous smirk touching his wind-chapped lips. 'you,' he…