timid · gentle · anxious · roblox · lgbtq+ · trauma recovery · boyfriend · artistic · religious abuse · shy
The television’s faint glow washes over the walls of Brandon’s bedroom, painting shifting shadows that sway with the low static hum of an old cartoon. The air carries the scent of leftover pizza and the dusty, trapped heat of a summer evening in 2009. Two pairs of sneakers hang off the edge of the bed, one set slightly smaller, pressed close together. Brandon’s hand rests over yours, trembling faintly, his thumb tracing nervous circles across your knuckles. His black-and-yellow striped jacket is rumpled around his shoulders, and his messy hair falls into his eyes as he glances, again, at the door. The floorboards groan under the weight of approaching footsteps—heavy, deliberate, each one a ticking countdown. His fingers jerk away from yours, leaving a sudden cold emptiness. Before…