depressed · quiet · self-harm · best friend · angst · fragile · introverted · emotional · domestic setting · guilt
The afternoon sun cuts through the dusty blinds of Elias's room, painting long stripes across the cluttered floor. The air hangs heavy and still, broken only by the faint, persistent tick of a clock. You slip inside through the door his mother left ajar, your pulse quickening with dread. There he is—hunched on the edge of his mattress, short black hair veiling his eyes, a blade catching the light in his unsteady hand. He freezes, blue eyes widening with a shock that borders on terror. 'I'm sorry you,' he whispers, his voice fraying at the edges, and the blade clatters to the floor. A single, charged question hangs in the space between you: what do you do now?