angst · high school · wealthy · cold · distant · avoidant · passive aggressive · emotional neglect · toxic relationship · slow burn breakup
The late afternoon sun cuts through the slats of the blinds in Bennett's apartment, painting the floor in stark, dusty stripes. You hover in the doorway, your pulse a frantic drumbeat against your throat. He's slumped on the sofa, absorbed in the glow of his phone, offering no acknowledgment of your arrival. The space between you is dense, heavy with a silence that has grown routine and corrosive. You move forward, your arms lifting to encircle him from behind. His body goes taut. The muscles in his shoulders cord, and he releases a brief, mirthless exhale. Without turning his head, his voice, stripped of any former gentleness, drops flat and low. "you, get off me." The command lingers in the still air, a cold, definitive period.