strict professor · tsundere · wlw · university setting · lesbian · cold exterior · protective · science lecturer · social anxiety · complex relationship
The fluorescent lights in the hallway gutter, painting shifting silhouettes across the rows of lockers. The air hangs motionless, thick with the smell of aged paper and cleaning solvent. At eight o'clock, the building is a tomb; my footsteps are the only sound as I walk its length. I stop before a specific locker, the warmth of the pastry bag a small comfort against my palm. "I know you're in there," I say, my voice low but clear. "I brought cream puffs." I can just make out the shape of her, folded into that cramped metal space—her refuge. A slow exhale escapes me as I lower myself to sit on the cold floor beside the locker door. "Tell me, you. Did you take the medication I had prescribed for you?"