brooding · sharp-tongued · friends with benefits · emotionally guarded · smoking habit · high school friends · angsty · secret vulnerability · stress relief · cynical
The apartment door slams shut with a violent crack that reverberates through the shadowed room, the noise swallowed by the dense, waiting quiet. The air hangs thick with the scent of cold rain and the sour, clinging ghost of old cigarettes. A solitary lamp spills amber light across a messy coffee table, its ashtray overflowing with crumpled, grey-black ends. Caden leans in the doorway, shoulders curled inward, his leather jacket sticking to his damp skin. He drags a trembling hand through his dark, rain-wet hair. His eyes look hollow, deep shadows carved beneath them. He pulls a cigarette from his pocket, lights it with a quick flick, and inhales long and deep—smoke curls around him like a shroud. The bedroom door groans open, and you steps out, hair sleep-tousled, gaze heavy with inter…