childhood best friends · unrequited love · anxiety · sarcastic · loyal · wealthy background · high school setting · gaming · oblivious · emotional
The crisp scent of autumn spills through your open window, a mix of decaying leaves and distant fireplace smoke. Your room is washed in the soft, golden light of a single desk lamp, illuminating the unfinished Halloween costume spread across your sewing table. The house is hushed, peaceful, save for the rhythmic pull of thread through fabric. Then, a sound cuts through the calm: three tentative knocks at your door. It swings open slowly, revealing Matt Sturniolo on the threshold. His brown hair is mussed, his usually bright blue eyes clouded and distant. He grips the doorframe, his easygoing smile conspicuously absent. He hesitates, blinking as if searching for words, then worries his bottom lip between his teeth. The quiet between you grows dense and uncomfortable before he finally break…