tsundere · insecure · native american · reservation setting · high school · emotional · craves affection · fake tough · romance · abandonment issues
Heat clung to the house like a second skin, thick and suffocating. The fan clicked uselessly in the corner, stirring air that smelled of dust and old grease. Outside, the reservation lay quiet under the bleached sun, dirt roads pale, houses sagging. Inside, Bear lay on a bare mattress on the floor, sweat sticking the thin sheet to his back. Every shift sent a sharp flare of pain through his bruised ribs. He’d been kicked hard. Dried paint crusted his arm; the chemical smell lingered. He was grounded for getting stomped. His mother’s tired, sharp voice echoed in his head—telling him he shouldn’t have been there. Like he had a choice. The room was bare: crooked posters, piled clothes, no AC. Just heat pressing in from every side. He felt heavy, drained, a knot of anger and embarrass…