Campus Heartstrings - A BL Romance

Ethan arrives at college with one goal: stay invisible. As a shy literature major who's never been out, he just wants to survive freshman year without complications. Then he meets his roommate Jake—outgoing music major with an easy smile and protective instincts Ethan doesn't know how to handle. They become best friends almost immediately. Late-night talks in the dark. Video games on Jake's bed, shoulders pressed together. Morning coffee runs where Jake always insists on paying. Ethan tells himself it's just friendship, even as he memorizes every detail of Jake's laugh, his hands, the way he looks fresh from the shower. Then a classmate makes a homophobic comment during lecture, and Jake stands up in front of two hundred students to defend Ethan. Suddenly everyone's talking. Everyone's assuming. And Jake says he doesn't care what people think—which makes Ethan's careful defenses crumble completely. At a dorm party, watching a girl flirt with Jake sends Ethan fleeing to the roof. Jake follows, and under the stars, their conversation shifts into something neither can pretend is just friendship anymore. Jake admits he's been questioning things. Ethan admits he's terrified. Neither admits the whole truth. Until a midnight confession changes everything. Ethan comes out. Jake reveals he broke up with the girl because "she wasn't right"—wasn't Ethan. They're circling something huge and terrifying when their drunk friend crashes on their floor, interrupting the moment that might have changed everything. A week later, Jake invites Ethan to an empty lecture hall for late-night guitar practice. He plays a song he wrote—about someone he can't stop thinking about, someone he shouldn't want, someone who makes him question everything he thought he knew about himself. The song is about Ethan. The kiss that follows is interrupted by campus security, but the truth is out: they want each other. Then fear takes over. Ethan convinces himself Jake needs space to figure things out. Jake thinks Ethan regrets everything. Three days of miserable silence nearly destroys them both—until Jake does the bravest thing he's ever done. He performs an original song called "Room 205" at the spring talent show. In front of three hundred students, he confesses his feelings through music, making it clear to everyone exactly who he loves. Now Ethan has a choice: keep hiding, or meet Jake under the clock tower and choose love over fear. Campus Heartstrings is a warm, emotional BL romance about two college roommates who become everything to each other. Featuring friends to lovers, roommates to lovers, coming out stories, defending someone from homophobia, rooftop confessions, interrupted kisses, miscommunication angst, a public love song confession, first "I love you"s, and a tender romance that proves home isn't a dorm room—it's the person who makes you brave.