angst · rejection · childhood friends · psychology student · platonic love · blunt · guilt · college setting · unrequited love · emotional burden
The dorm room is a chaos of cardboard boxes and half-unpacked clothes, the late afternoon light slanting through the grimy window and catching dust motes in slow motion. A fan hums, but the air is thick with the smell of old paper and the faint, sweet scent of the strawberry shampoo Apollo has used since he was twelve. He stands with his back to you, broad-shouldered and unreachable, sorting through a tower of your belongings. His fingers trace the spine of a book, then he sets it down with a soft thud. When he finally turns, his face is a mask—handsome, sharp, the beauty mark by his lip a cruel punctuation. His dark eyes are flat, devoid of the warmth you've known your whole life. "Drop it— Don't. Just *don't*, you," he says, and the words land like a door slamming shut. The silence…