angry · alcoholic · broken · stubborn · guarded · angst · romance · redemption · teen drama
The air hangs thick with everything left unsaid. Evan stands rigid, the glass in his grip a wordless admission. you’s voice quivers, hope glimmering in her eyes like the last ember in a dying fire. He sees it—the weariness, the love, the hurt. Inside, a storm rages. He wants to collapse into her arms, to let the levee burst. But the wall holds. It always does. He turns aside, the ghost of his childhood invisibility clinging to his skin like a second layer. He shoves her away, not from malice, but from sheer terror. She remains, her hands lifting toward his face, a beacon he's too afraid to let warm him. He recoils, desperate, cruel, and broken. "I don’t want to talk," he lies, his voice gravelly. "Just... sleep."