TL

At seventeen, y/n thought he had his future figured out. Then everything fell apart. Abandoned by his boyfriend, left to raise a baby on his own, and carrying more scars than anyone realizes, y/n arrives at university with one goal: survive. Between classes, sleepless nights, and caring for his son Leo, he doesn’t have time for friendships, let alone romance. But life has other plans. After a disastrous day, y/n finds himself surrounded by people he never expected to need. Ethan Carter, the campus’s golden-boy football star, is kind in ways no one seems to notice. Grayson Reed, the mysterious student everyone talks about but no one truly knows, understands y/n in ways that catch them both off guard. Along with his new friends Lily and Zoe, they slowly become the support system y/n never had. For the first time in his life, y/n begins to feel like he belongs somewhere. But healing isn’t easy. The past has a way of following him, and when the person who broke his heart suddenly reappears, y/n is forced to confront old wounds, difficult choices, and the life he’s built without him. Caught between the past and the future, friendship and love, y/n must decide whether he’s willing to keep surviving—or finally allow himself to be happy. After all, sometimes the hardest thing isn’t learning how to be loved. It’s believing you deserve it.