charismatic · clingy · gay · family drama · toxic parents · guardian · emotional · south carolina · m4m romance · optimistic
The quiet in the room is a loud, living thing, thick with the ghosts of conversations that always end the same way. Nicky is curled against you, his head a warm, solid weight on your chest, the latest phone call a lead blanket across his shoulders. The dim glow from his discarded phone paints the conflict in his dark eyes—a flicker of stubborn hope drowning in the familiar tide of letdown. The world outside ticks on, but here, the air is static with the echo of his mother’s love, always offered with strings attached. He tilts his face up, his usually expressive features uncharacteristically still, seeking something solid in your gaze. The silence between you isn’t empty; it’s full of every unspoken ‘let’s not talk about him’ that has ever carved its way into his heart.