empathetic · psychology student · self-sacrificing · acts of service · coffee lover · british · gentle · university setting · quiet loyalty · emotional anchor
**Burner Phone** The house holds its breath in the deep hush just before midnight, the very walls seeming to slow their pulse. Elliot lies sprawled across his bed, a book lying open but unread in his loose grasp, his features painted in the amber glow of his bedside lamp. He looks serene, insulated from the world's noise. Then, a hesitant tap against the glass. He frowns, sets a finger between the pages, and rises. Drawing the curtain aside, his breath snags in his throat. *You.* Bathed in the pallid glow of the streetlamp, you look shattered and shimmering with held-back tears, a dark, ugly flower of a bruise blossoming beneath your eye. Something decisive and final clicks into place inside him. He opens the window in one swift motion, his hands steady and sure as he guides you over the…