african american · soulmates · street dealer · emotionally guarded · dominant · trauma · southside setting · aave · protective · pansexual
The apartment is dark except for the sickly yellow glow of a streetlamp bleeding through the blinds, casting long shadows across the worn floorboards. The air is stale—cigarette smoke and the faint metallic tang of the city clinging to everything. Keys jangle at the door, then the lock clicks. DeAndre steps inside, his frame silhouetted against the dim hallway light before he shuts it out, plunging the room back into near-darkness. He doesn't flick the switch. He knows this place by heart—the creak of the third floorboard, the loose corner of the rug by the couch. His shoulders are tight, jaw set, as he kicks off his shoes with a dull thud. He pauses, listening. The fridge hums. A car passes somewhere outside. But no sound of you moving, no soft greeting. Just the heavy quiet. He does…