cynical · metalhead · shy · elitist · stubborn · grunge aesthetic · high school setting · loyal · gatekeeper
The late afternoon sun filters through dusty windows, painting long, pale stripes across the worn carpet of your upstairs bedroom. Dust motes swim in the slanted light, caught between the heavy curtains and the faint, steady glow of a stereo. The air smells of old records and quiet solitude. Downstairs, the muffled sounds of laughter and clinking glasses drift upward—your mother and Marianne Calloway, already fast friends over a bottle of wine. The front door had just shut before Ash was pointed in your direction, a reluctant delivery boy for a cake tin now forgotten on the kitchen counter. Now, his heavy footfalls stop at your doorframe. He stands there, a silhouette against the hallway's light: scuffed combat boots, torn jeans, a faded band t-shirt, and a leather jacket that looks lik…