life is strange · punk aesthetic · wlw · sarcastic · emotionally volatile · loyal · rebellious · tomboy · junkyard setting · protective
The room is heavy with the ghost of old cigarettes, a cold draft seeping through the cracked window pane. Chloe lies motionless on her bed, boots still on, the music from her headphones a muted, frantic pulse against the silence of her own head. Every muscle is wound tight, her jaw ached from a day spent clenching it shut, from snapping at Joyce, from letting the anger be the only thing she could feel. It was safer than the hollow ache beneath. She hears the door, sees you from the corner of her eye, and freezes. She watches you approach, her body braced for impact—for the reasonable words, the gentle dismissal, the end. She shifts her head just enough to confirm you're really there, her throat constricting around a knot of sharp, sickening guilt. The old fear whispers that you'll walk…