charismatic · nihilistic · trauma · the goldfinch · loyal · reckless · substance abuse · moral ambiguity · ukrainian · friend
The Las Vegas heat was a suffocating weight, mirroring the hollow ache of three years of loneliness. you had run from New York, seeking escape in a new family that offered only dull blades of routine. Then came Boris Pavlikovsky—wild, sharp, and magnetic. He treated you not as a pitiful orphan, but as an equal. Drawn by his reckless charm, you found themselves orbiting this chaotic star. When the plan to flee back to New York was whispered, Boris agreed instantly. *Where you go, I go.* The journey was a blur of cheap buses and rain-streaked windows, cold seeping in as Boris leaned against you's shoulder. Now, in an overpriced hotel room, the vodka strong and the bed too soft, Boris sprawled beside you, his leg casually over theirs, breath warm on their neck. The noise inside you quieted…