Rayne has a routine, a plan. He lives life according to this routine. A few times a week, his routine allows him a few hours to hide away in his diner. Everything is always the same in this diner, even the variances are consistent. That is, until the gray-haired manager hires a new waiter who moves about like a tornado. This boy does not know Rayne's "usual" or his proclivity to be left alone so he can watch and study the people living around him. This new waiter disrupts his routine in all the worst ways and Rayne can't help but hate him. He doesn't seem to care, however, continuing to disrupt Rayne and see Rayne and pop Rayne's bubble of safety, and ask Rayne questions that he doesn't want to answer. It was all quite aggravating really. •••••• He looked vaguely familiar, like an ancient statute carved from marble or a delicately crafted oil painting you can see only in the galleries in Europe. He was all but perfect, just one minor flaw over his eyebrow- a scar where hair refused to grow, leaving a pale gash to interrupt his dark eyebrow. I noticed, between all my studying of this strange man's face, that his lips were moving. I had no desire to hear what he was saying. I was content to just watch. The ways his lips parted and pressed together, his porcelain teeth teasing an appearance behind them. I watched him speak, not hearing a word, until he stopped, his lips curving up and open on one end in an aggravating smirk. I don't know why it aggravated me, but it did. I furrowed my brows and removed an earbud, moving my eyes back up to his. His eyes seemed to aggravate me too. They looked all too teasing, all too amused. 🎖️ #1- yearn- Feb 18, 2026🥇 #1- love- Dec 18, 2025🥇 #1- slowburn- Dec 18, 2025🥇 #2- boyxboy- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #2- bxb- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #2- manxman- Dec 18, 2025🥈 #3- literature- Feb 14, 2026🥉 #10- lgbt- Dec 26, 2025

What happens when the boy known for fighting everyone and anyone starts to fight for you? What happens when the artist who hides behind his masterpieces, starts to see you on his canvases? Gray and Axel meet by chance, unaware of the tidal waves they are causing in the other's life. Both stuck in their own lives, cold and always alone, they begin to find warmth with each other. Their hands keep finding their ways to each other- behind closed doors, in the dark, under the table. Once their walls start to crack, there's no going back and there's no pretending it means nothing. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• "Don't- don't touch me like that," he breathed out. I blinked at him. Is he angry? In pain? "Like what?" "fucking...gently," he seethed. "Why?" I peered at him, pressing my hand to his other cheek. I just needed him to look at me. I didn't care if it was wrong. "Because I'll... I'll fucking break," he barked, lips trembling under his confession. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• !! This is a slow burn !! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 🏅 #1- bxblove- Nov 16, 2025 🥇 #1- gay romance- Nov 19, 2025🥇 #1- tattoos- Oct 22, 2025🥇 #1- delinquent- Nov 6, 2025🥇 #1- trauma- Dec 1, 2025 🥇 #1- family problems- Dec 1, 2025 🥇 #1- teen- Dec 15, 2025🥇 #1- school- Dec 22, 2025 🥇 #2- bisexual- Nov 18, 2025 🥈 #2- high school experience- Nov 26, 2025🥈 #2- boyxboyromance- Oct 19, 2025🥈 #2- love- Nov 17, 2025🥈 #3- boyxboy- Nov 28, 2025🥉

In a world where marks appear on a select few individuals, Spencer lives in solitude and constant fear as one of the marked. These marks spread across his skin and appears to be veins bleeding black ink. Those without marks, or the "clean" people, detest those with marks. They target them and attack them and Spencer, living as the only openly marked boy in his town, feels like prey being hunted. Just as there is someone at the bottom of the social hierarchy, there must be someone at the top. Elio lives as the schools perfect "Golden Boy". But even perfect boys have secrets. ******** His golden hair appeared almost silver under the moon. His eyes were just as steady and just as terrifying. I didn't dare take a breath. He dropped his hand and smiled and I winced. I literally winced. He gestured to my headphones and with shaky hands I slipped them off, watching his smile bleed across his face, dripping with a new kind of terror I couldn't quite place. "Hey," he said, light and typical of his golden boy persona, "I've seen you around at school." I blinked at him, not used to a conversation this civil proceeding a murder attempt. "I'm Elio," he smiled again. It didn't reach his eyes. Again. I swallowed, hard and dry. "I know." 🏅 #1- gayfiction- Apr 27, 2026 🥇 #1- gaypride- Apr 26, 2026 🥇 #1- Boyxboy- Dec 30, 2025🥇 #1- Slowburn- Dec 30, 2025🥇 #3- pride- Apr 28, 2026 🥉 #3- bxblove- Jan 03, 2026 🥉