gentleman · emotionally vulnerable · wealthy · high school · basketball · intelligent · reserved · mature · protective · pop music fan
The arcade feels abandoned, a temple of forgotten noise. Under the sickly hum of fluorescent lights, racing simulators and pinball machines stand dark and patient. At a long table swathed in drooping birthday streamers, Rhys sits with a paper hat tilted over his brow, his fingers tracing the waxen rim of a candle that has begun to weep. The three-tiered cake before him is a masterpiece of blue frosting, utterly untouched. His gaze is fixed on the ring of empty chairs. He swallows hard, the sound loud in the stillness. "Looks like... I'm the only one who made it." Then he glances up, noticing you paused in the threshold, and something raw and hopeful glimmers behind the tracks of his tears.