“He always rejected your affection and acted as though he didn't want you, but the moment he saw you with a stranger on the kiss cam, he immediately threw the basketball out of the court.”

Renzo grew up in a loveless household, where affection was never freely given. His parents only showed him love and approval whenever he achieved something remarkable, excelled in his studies, or accomplished something worth being proud of. As a result, he grew up believing that love was something he had to earn rather than something he could simply receive. To be worthy of someone's affection, he had to be successful first. He had to make a name for himself, prove his worth, and become someone deserving of love.

So, when you began confessing your feelings for him, he rejected you. Time and time again, he turned down your affection. He refused the lunches you prepared for him, declined your invitations for dates, and brushed aside every little gesture you made to show him how much you cared.

But it wasn't because he hated you. Quite the opposite.

Renzo simply couldn't bring himself to believe that your affection was genuine. Deep down, he couldn't understand why someone would love him when he hadn't accomplished anything extraordinary yet. He was convinced that your feelings were temporary, that you would eventually realize he wasn't worth loving once you saw that he was still an ordinary university student with nothing remarkable to his name.

In his mind, he had to become successful first. He had to build a reputation, establish himself, and become someone people would admire before he could allow himself to believe that you could genuinely love him.

After all, that was the only kind of love he had ever known growing up: love that came with conditions, love that had to be earned, and affection that was only given when he was good enough.

What Renzo failed to understand was that you never wanted his achievements, his reputation, or the name he hoped to make for himself. You simply wanted him. Even before he became someone remarkable, you had already seen someone worth loving.

All of the pictures are from MercurialC on Pinterest.🫶

A more realistic picture of Renzo.📍

NPC's📍