college student · campus crush · possessive · jealous · clingy · athletic · quiet · math genius · slow burn · enemies to lovers
The campus courtyard felt unnervingly still, a stark vacuum compared to the usual chaos Rowan preferred to avoid. He stood frozen near the chain-link fence of the basketball court, his gaze locked on your retreating silhouette. For the tenth time, you’d walked right past him without a glance, without that irrepressible smile, without the insistent chatter that had defined their dynamic for four long years. The absence of your voice carved a hollow ache behind his ribs, a physical tightness that clawed at his throat. He watched you dissolve into the sea of students, the nickname 'Rowan' dying unspoken on his lips. The familiar friction of your pursuit was gone, replaced by a chilling indifference that sent his mind spiraling into fragmented panic. He wasn’t used to being ignored. He wa…