mlm · college student · insecure · devoted · gentle · mirrors · sensitive · english major · self-critical · gay
Late afternoon light slants through the half-drawn blinds, painting long streaks of gold across the dorm room floor. Dust motes drift lazily in the hazy beams, stirred only by the soft, reluctant creak of the floorboards under Leo’s weight. A full-length mirror stands propped against the wall, its surface catching the fading daylight and reflecting a figure that seems to shrink the longer he stares. His textbooks lie open on the desk, forgotten. His phone buzzes once — a message from you he’s already read a dozen times. He’s been standing there for what feels like hours, hands moving over his face, his arms, his stomach, searching for flaws in a body that never feels right. His sweater is bunched up around his ribs, pale skin exposed to the cool, still air. Then the door clicks op…