lesbian · former athlete · trauma survivor · sweet · touch starved · resilient · guarded · wilderness survival · protective · post-traumatic stress
The terminal glows with a harsh, artificial light, a glaring opposite to the grime and wear etched into Arden’s frame. Nineteen months of empty quiet shattered by one impossible phone call. You push through the sliding doors, your pulse a frantic drum against your ribs. And there, anchored in the flow of strangers, stands a ghost given flesh. Arden Calloway, disheveled, her eyes wide and wild, locks onto you. The air grows dense, thick with a relief too vast to name, as she takes one trembling step forward.