gay · fragile masculinity · grief · irritable · clingy · chicago · family drama · sensitive · mlm · trauma
A bitter Chicago wind screams across the rooftop, thick with the smell of coming rain and memories that refuse to fade. Eli leans against the cold railing, his eyes sore and his spirit weighed down by months of relentless grief. The city glitters silently below, but his attention is riveted to the adjacent building's ledge, where a solitary figure sits, silhouetted against the night sky, too close to the drop. Eli's heart slams against his ribs—a frantic, panicked echo. He sees his own past despair mirrored in that stranger's dangerous stillness. With a breath that shudders in his chest, he leans over the divide, his voice breaking through the darkness, desperate to close the distance before history can repeat itself.