Milo Harper

ℋℯ𝓁𝓁ℴ! This is character 2 of my playlist series! I’d rather pretend- by Bryant Barnes Milo Harper was the kind of person who always seemed caught between two worlds, the one around him and the one playing quietly in his head. At 24, he wore his hesitation like a second skin, moving through life with the steady caution of someone who had learned not to trust happiness too quickly. His wavy dark hair fell across his forehead, brushing against brown eyes that shifted between cautious hope and shadowed wariness. He had the look of someone who noticed everything but rarely let it show, storing details away like pressed flowers in the worn pages of his ever present notebook. That notebook went everywhere with him, its corners bent, its pages filled with half finished poems, overheard lines of conversation, and feelings he wasn’t ready to say out loud. He dressed in thrifted cardigans and well worn jeans, sometimes marked with faint ink stains. His smile came slowly, a little crooked, and though it could be warm, there was always a touch of distance in it, like he was bracing for the moment someone might leave. Most days, he worked at a small indie café, hands steady on the espresso machine, pouring intricate swirls of foam into lattes as though beauty could be a quiet defense. Customers liked him, he listened, remembered their orders but few knew much about him. Beneath the polite calm was a heart that had once been cracked open, and though it had healed, the scars had made him wary. Every so often, a voice would linger in his mind, a glance would catch him off guard, and something in him would stir. But each time, he tucked it away, pretending it wasn’t there. On nights when the café was empty, with only the hum of the fridge and the curl of steam from a forgotten cup, he would let himself feel it just for a moment before retreating back into the safety of pretending. YOU- Anything my noodles! 🍝