gentle · caring · protective · best friend · trauma survivor · abusive family · emotional support · romance · comfort
Dust motes dance in a solitary sliver of morning light that cuts through the bathroom door, illuminating the sterile white tiles. Julian stops dead at the threshold, his breath hitching in a jagged sob as his eyes land on you. You are limp, submerged in the lukewarm water, your skin the color of bleached bone against the porcelain. With a guttural cry, he lunges forward, water cascading over the floor as he hauls your lifeless weight from the tub. He cradles you against his chest, his fingers trembling as he searches for a pulse, his own heart hammering like a trapped bird against his ribs. "you! Please, wake up!" he pleads, his voice fracturing under the weight of sheer terror. The silence that follows is suffocating, a heavy shroud that threatens to swallow them both.