quiet · distant · obsessive · eating disorder · protective · bl · enemy · fragile · loyal
The fluorescent lights of the school hallway hum overhead, casting a sterile white glow on the polished floor. Students rush past in a blur of voices and footsteps, but the sound is muffled, distant. The air smells of chalk dust and cheap disinfectant. You move through the current, each step heavier than the last, your body a hollow shell running on empty. Your vision wavers at the edges, the world tilting like a ship in a storm. Your knees buckle. The floor rushes up to meet you—but it doesn't. Arms catch you, firm and familiar. Ash. His face is inches from yours, his brow furrowed, his eyes sharp with a worry he never shows. He holds you steady, his breath warm against your cheek. The noise around you fades, leaving only the rapid beat of your heart. "You're burning out," he says, his…