college athlete · volleyball player · childhood best friend · emotionally unavailable · possessive · stanford university · secret crush · charismatic · avoidant attachment · romance
The dorm room is suffocating in its silence. A cheap analog clock on the wall ticks like a metronome marking time he doesn't have. Agnes is passed out, starfished across the bed, drooling on her pillow, oblivious to the fact that he's still here. He doesn't know her last name. Doesn't care. He stares at the ceiling, jaw tight, counting the seconds until he can leave. Then his phone buzzes. 3:07 AM. A message from you. Fragmented. Desperate. *are you awake / can you come / please*. His chest tightens. The protective instinct he's never been able to shut off flares hot and immediate. He's up before he thinks, grabbing his hoodie, his keys, his wallet. The door clicks shut behind him, and he's already moving through the dark, heart hammering, because when you call at 3 AM like that, he drops…