57 parts Complete MatureTitle: IT STARTS WITH A CRUSH
Rowan never expected to notice someone like Elian. He had always been the quiet one - the kind of guy who preferred his books, his games, and the safety of being overlooked. With sleek black hair, glasses, and a style that leaned more cool-but-unnoticed than anything else, Rowan didn't see himself as the type to catch anyone's attention, especially not someone from the glittering circle of his sister's friends.
But then came Elian. The boy with curly hair, easy laughter, and a presence that seemed to fill the room without effort. He was bright, magnetic, and heartbreakingly beautiful - and Rowan found himself looking too long, feeling too much, whenever Elian was around.
Rowan's sister teased him for it, calling him "too nerdy" for someone like Elian, even joking that Rowan was hot but wasted it behind his glasses and his quiet attitude. Rowan brushed her off, pretending it didn't matter, but inside he was tangled in a crush that grew heavier every time Elian's smile appeared in his house, in his space, just close enough to feel real and impossibly far at the same time.
As summer edges into their final year before senior year, the fragile balance between them begins to shift. Elian's perfect world cracks when betrayal and heartbreak find their way into his life. The walls he built as the golden boy of their high school begin to crumble, and Rowan is the one standing close enough.
But nothing in their world is simple. Rowan struggles with the fear of being nothing more than a rebound, while Elian wrestles with feelings he's never allowed himself to face. And all the while, the storm of high school chaos swirls around them - friendships shifting, loyalties breaking, rumors spreading.
It all begins with Rowan's quiet, hopeless crush. But soon enough, it becomes something neither of them can ignore.
Because sometimes the things you think are out of your league are the very things that bring your world crashing open.