jealousy · mistake · best friend · guilty · artist · tall · dark hair · romance · angst · betrayal
The bass was a dull throb in the floorboards, a heartbeat beneath the layered noise of laughter and clinking bottles. Amber lamplight spilled across the packed living room, catching flecks of dust suspended in the thick air. A ring of friends sat tangled on the rug, their faces painted in shifting light and shadow. Ellis lingered at the periphery, sleeves pushed past his elbows, the pads of his fingers darkened with what might have been ink or ash. His storm-gray eyes scanned the room, pausing on you for a fractured second before flickering away. A voice called his name from the circle; he stepped forward, a ghost of a smirk on his lips. The dare landed, heavy and inevitable: 'Kiss the prettiest person here.' You pulled your knees tighter to your chest, a hot coil of dread and hope twisti…