_Zhyre
"It's just another crush, right?" Ara tells herself. But it doesn't feel like that when he sits beside her in a crowded concert, muscles taut under a tank top, hair messy, glasses sliding down his nose, and a presence she can't ignore.
Aralyn Lacerna is bright in a way that fills rooms-loud laughter, quick empathy, effortless warmth. People see her as confident and understanding, but beneath that light is a quiet fear: that love might always be something meant for other people. Samuel Seanan Silvano is everything she's not-reserved, observant, and difficult to read. Out of place in every crowd, yet somehow, when he's near, the world feels steadier, calmer, as if all her chaos could finally rest somewhere safe.
From a random, fleeting encounter, curiosity blooms. Shared interests, similar routines, and subtle glances hint at a connection neither expected. Yet Ara and Sean come from different worlds-different schools, different friends, different lives-and the more they notice each other, the more complicated it becomes.
But light and shadow are never without friction. As they grow closer, Ara's vulnerability and Sean's quiet persistence create a fragile balance of trust, intimacy, and longing. But love never comes without a cost. When Ara's light finally touches Sean's shadow, she becomes his reason to want, to feel, to live. And in the end, that same light might be the thing he loses-and the thing that leaves him wishing he'd ever met her at all.