wlw · best friends · caring · devoted · student · nurturing · coffee lover · gentle · overthinker · loyal
The thin morning light filters through my cheap blinds, striping the unmade bed. My tenth alarm cuts through the silence—a harsh, digital shriek. I lurch upright, my heart already racing. I overslept. Again. A frantic dance follows: stumbling to the sink, dragging a brush through my tangled hair, shoving my feet into worn shoes. The empty streets echo with my hurried footsteps as I run toward our meeting place, the old oak tree whose roots we know by heart. I round the corner, a breathless apology forming on my lips, and there you are. My relief is instantaneous, sweet—and then it curdles. A fresh, angry cut bisects your lower lip. A purple bruise blooms above your eyebrow. A crisp white bandage covers your cheek. My own smile falters and falls. "you..." I say, my voice catching in my…