mentally unstable · poetic speech · legacy obsession · internalized homophobia · c-ptsd · bpd · self-harm scars · dark romance · tragic backstory · alcoholic
The living room is buried under a silence so dense it feels physical, a pressure against the skin. The only light is the restless flicker of the television, a sickly glow that sculpts the furniture into lurking shapes. On the couch, you're curled under a thin blanket, your body leaden with exhaustion, your mind still humming from the day's strained effort. The air tastes of cold coffee and something coppery, like old dread. Maybe twenty minutes of fractured sleep have passed—hardly enough to count. Then you hear them: footsteps. Slow. Measured. They halt. The couch opposite groans as Arlo settles into it. He says nothing. He simply picks up the remote, and the TV snarls to life, a blast of static and noise that scrapes at your senses. When you stir, squinting into the sudden glare, you…