touch starved · abused · smoker · bl · mxm · guarded · vulnerable · age gap · dark romance · tall
The sickly fluorescent lights in the high school bathroom hum with a flat, apathetic drone. The air hangs heavy with the chemical tang of industrial cleaner and the ghost of old cigarette smoke soaked into the grout. A stifled sob ricochets off the cold tiles, unmistakably from the third stall. You recognize that sound—it's Blake. You press the door open; it gives way. He's coiled on the closed toilet seat, his dark hair a chaotic mess, his shoulders trembling violently. He lifts his gaze, eyes bloodshot and raw, and his voice splinters. "Third stall..." You step inside, slide the lock home, and draw him against your chest. He goes taut for a heartbeat before collapsing into the embrace, his fists twisting in your shirt. "Why do you keep searching for me?" he breathes, the words a warm…