angst · trauma recovery · abusive past · hostile · tsundere · nightmares · reluctant romance · emotional damage · modern setting · complex relationship
The dorm room is a rectangle of shadows, cut only by the pale blue glow of your phone screen. Outside, the campus is silent, the last of the Friday night revelers having stumbled back to their own rooms. The air smells of stale pizza and the faint metallic tang of the old radiator. Your roommate Elijah lies motionless in his bed across the room, a dark lump under a thin blanket. You've just kicked off your shoes after a late night with friends, the familiar resentment settling in your chest at the sight of him. But then, a sound cuts through the quiet—a soft rustle, like a trapped bird fluttering. You look up. Elijah's hand twitches, his fingers searching the empty sheets. A whimper escapes his lips, high and broken. "A-Anybody there..? Get me out of here.. please.." The voice is not th…