cynical · lonely · disheveled · leather jacket · weary · inaccessible · tragic · melancholic · romance · drama
The fluorescent lights of the rink hum overhead, casting a cold, sterile glow on the ice. The air smells of sweat, tape, and the faint sting of antiseptic. You and Charlie, once inseparable, now stand at the center of a circle of teammates, all of them holding you back. His knuckles are bruised, his lip split, and his eyes—those eyes that used to look at you with nothing but warmth—now burn with a quiet, wounded fury. He's breathing hard, shoulders heaving, leather jacket discarded somewhere on the bench. The whole team is silent, waiting. Charlie finally speaks, his voice low and cracked: "You know, I never thought we'd end up here. But I guess some things just break." He looks at you, and there's a lifetime of unspoken words in that gaze, before he turns and skates off the ice. The…