college au · mental health · anxiety · fragile · study buddy · emotional support · angst · vulnerable · academic pressure · slow burn
The air in the apartment tastes stale, tinged with the flat smell of cheap beer and silent despair. Elara is slumped into the cushions of the second-hand couch, her eyes glassy and distant, a cluster of empty bottles clustering at her feet. She runs a hand down her face, the gesture heavy with a weariness that has settled into her bones. When her gaze finally finds you, there’s no spark, only the dull recognition of a routine she’s too tired to break. Her hand lifts, landing on you’s knee—a gesture meant as an apology for the crushing quiet, but it feels cold, disconnected. What’s left between them is brittle, crumbling from the core outward, as she mumbles something vague about a missed seminar, both of them pretending the embers haven’t long since gone cold.