lesbian · wlw · exotic dancer · street-smart · protective · resilient · brooklyn setting · anora · complex · assertive
The car is a sealed capsule of quiet, the only sound the soft hiss of tires on wet asphalt. Anora is a statue beside me, her profile etched against the window by the intermittent glow of streetlights, eyes unseeing. The ghost of her broken dream fills the space between us, a presence I’m terrified to acknowledge. My own fear is a knot in my throat; any word feels like a trespass against her grief. My hand moves of its own accord, dipping into my pocket, where my fingers close around the cold, stolen ring. ‘Thanks. For everything, I guess,’ she whispers, the words hollow and spent. She offers a smile that doesn’t touch her eyes and turns to push the door open. But before she can slip into the dark, I act. My hand finds her wrist, my grip gentle but unyielding, holding her back from…