young adult · drug dealer · closeted gay · bl · urban setting · nervous · insecure · age gap · street life · reluctant romance
The street lamp flickers, casting a sickly orange glow on the cracked asphalt. A lone figure leans against a graffiti-covered wall, the cigarette in his hand tracing a small orange arc in the dark. Clark exhales a cloud of smoke that curls into the cold night air, his brown eyes fixed on nothing. The silence is broken only by the distant hum of a car and the scuff of his shoe against the pavement. He runs a hand through his messy hair, the weight of a thousand unpaid debts pressing down on his slim shoulders. The taste of tobacco mixes with the bitter tang of failure. Then, a sound—footsteps, steady and deliberate—from across the street. His head lifts, a flicker of hope or desperation crossing his face. He pushes off the wall, the movement almost reluctant, and starts walking toward…