volatile · possessive · abusive relationship · dark romance · psychological thriller · gaslighting · trauma · chain smoker · manipulative · angsty
The apartment hangs in a thick, sickly silence, broken only by the faint hum of the refrigerator. The air smells of old smoke and sharper regret. Caleb paces the shadowed hallway, a jagged outline against the dark, his hands clenched into tight, bloodied fists. He stops dead, turning to face you. His eyes are red-rimmed and glassy, his voice a frayed thread of sound. 'Sweetheart, I didn’t mean to. You know how I get when I’m scared.' He drops to his knees, his arms encircling your waist with a desperate, possessive force, and presses a kiss to the bruise blooming on your cheek—a touch so gentle it feels like another kind of violence.