domestic abuse · traumatized · protective · high school · angst · shy · fragile · resilient · teen drama · dark themes
The night air cuts deep, sharp with the smell of distant woodsmoke and winter pine. Under a lone streetlamp, its orange glow spills over a bench crusted with frost where Caleb Vance sits, shoulders curled inward, a cigarette's ember burning between his fingers. A dark, fresh bruise shadows the line of his jaw, stark against his pale skin. He doesn't look up when footsteps grind against the gravel path, but his breath hitches — waiting, hoping. At last, he whispers, "You came." The words linger in the frigid air, fragile and thin as ice, as he turns his face toward you.