BOOK ONE Coming out was supposed to set Julian free. Instead, it left him with a broken arm, a mother who won't stop preaching, and a silence that grows heavier every day. High school feels like a cage, and Julian is certain he doesn't belong anywhere-until Paul crashes into his world. With his inked skin, effortless charm, and a following that makes him untouchable, Paul should be the last person Julian lets close. But in Paul's arms, Julian feels something he's never known before: safe. As their connection deepens, so does the danger. Loving Paul means risking exposure, rejection, and heartbreak all over again. Worse, it means facing the cruelest voice of all-the one inside Julian's own head. Tender, raw, and unflinching, Open is a story about first love, first heartbreak, and finding the courage to believe you're worthy of both. ::: I could feel it when his body finally went slack, when he'd fallen asleep and soft snores emitted. And I thought I was getting better at this breaking down thing... I honestly did but when I was alone, I seemed to fall apart. Endless serenades of how worthless I'd been and how destructive I was; I was a disappointment to literally everyone and I hated it. My breathing became shallow as I cried for the second time that day, finally feeling content being immersed in guilt. A shudder wracked through my body, tears escaping and Paul pulled me closer as he woke silently. Mumbling soft nothings against my skin and kissing it to slow my breathing, he tried to lull me to sleep, "It's okay, you're okay." Refusing to speak -my voice failing me- his arm came up to wrap around my shoulder and I held him there, placing a small kiss to his tattooed skin in a broken sign of gratitude, I must've run out of tears. And I felt at ease.

🏆Wattys 2021 Shortlister 🏆Wattys 2021 || Best Cover Shortlist 🏆Featured on Wattpad || Fresh Reads 🏆Featured on Wattpad || Stories of Trailblazing Asian Characters 🏆Featured on Wattpad || Amplifying Asian & Pacific Islander Voices 🏆Featured on Wattpad || Celebrating API Stories 🏆Featured on Wattpad || Celebrating API Stories 🧡 🏆Featured on Wattpad || Celebrating AAPI Stories 🧡 🏆Featured on Wattpad || #WrittenWithPride 🏆Featured on WattpadExplorer || Written With Pride 🏆Featured on WattpadExplorer || Community Curators 🏆Featured on WattpadExplorer || Celebrating API Stories 🏆Featured on WattpadExplorer || Amplifying AAPI Storytelling 🏆Featured on TeenFiction || The Full Spectrum 🏆Featured on TeenFiction || Head Over Heels 🏆Featured on TeenFiction || LGBTQIAP+ Teens 🏆Featured on FreeTheLGBT || Coming of Age 🏆Featured on LGBTQ || BoyxBoy (YA / Teen Fiction) 🏆Featured on YA || Love, Actually 🏆Featured on YARomance || Love-hate Relationships 🏆Featured on Romance || Rainbow of Love 🏆Featured on Generalfiction || Creativity At Its Finest 🏆Featured on Music || Love Ballads 🥇Curse of Pride || Romance 1st Place Winner 🏅Curse of Pride || Best Book Cover Layout Once, Kang Jeong-Soon and Gregory Gan were in love. After a music festival brings them together in a flurry of first kisses, matching headphones, and off-key singing, they're convinced they're going to spend the rest of their lives together. But then Gregory leaves, and he never comes back. Two years later, Jeong-Soon knows he's in trouble when the same boy who'd once abandoned him at a crappy park bench storms into his after-school Music class. Especially since Gregory now seems to hate his guts. [ FORMERLY AN ENTRY FOR THE 2021 ONC ]

REMOVED April 9, 2024 One notorious gay heartbreaker. One homophobic ex-best friend and his kleptomaniac brother. Mix in a sex tape, commitment issues, and some explosive chemistry. The illusion of Dreyden's perfect life can't survive this disaster. ***** Dreyden is very good at being who others wants him to be. He's an obedient, church-going son, a perfect student, the life of every party. Maintaining the equilibrium means staying in the closet at home, so it's lucky his parents don't suspect a thing when he lies. When others are happy, it's easy to forget that he isn't. After one drunk night gets out of control, Dreyden dumps his loving boyfriend rather than admit to what he did. Adrift and increasingly alienated from his friends, he finds himself sucked into Orion's dysfunctional orbit. Orion has a habit of taking things that don't belong to him, but what's worse is his angry, homophobic brother, who used to be Dreyden's best friend. Bad habits might be harder to escape than the gravity of unwanted feelings, but maybe Dreyden's equilibrium isn't as stable as he pretends. And maybe Orion is about to disrupt it all, whether Dreyden is ready or not. It's just a shame that bad people don't get happy endings. ***** Contains sexual content, profanity, underage substance use, and themes of consent, mental health, homophobia, and coming out. *featured on Wattpad's "Stories to Read OUT Loud" list* Complete at 137k words.

It's hard to believe that a boy who didn't believe in love and a boy who didn't believe he could love himself would have much to learn from each other. But it would turn out that way, of course; with everything to gain and even more to lose. As it turned out, both Liam and Jamie needed to learn not to trust the dim lights and neon nights. This is a backwards love story.

For as long as Ian could remember, Noah Rivera has always been the enemy. That one person better than him in every single aspect: Noah was more popular, a lot smarter, and most importantly president of the student council - a position that Ian has wanted ever since he joined Merrol Hines Academy. So when Noah shows interest in Ian he doesn't waste a second to pretend the feelings are mutual, not afraid to cross boundaries when it comes to getting what he wants. What starts out as a game sparked by an old rivalry soon turns into dangerous play when one of them catches feelings. And before he knows Ian's caught up in his own schemes against Noah, and there's no getting out. Highest ranking: #1 in bxb | #1 in lgbtfiction