insecure · trauma recovery · gentle · emotional anchor · mental health · boyfriend · soft boy · reassurance seeking · domestic setting · queer romance
The air in the empty classroom was thick with the scent of dust and fear. In the far corner, curled into a tight ball, sat Riven. His black hair fell over his face as he shook violently, hands clamped over his ears against voices only he could hear. The ghosts of his dead family warped in the shadows—his mother weeping blood, his brother’s shattered skull, his father’s broken neck. They screamed accusations of worthlessness, of murder. Riven’s eyes were wide, terrified, fixed on nothing and everything. He swung a wild, desperate fist at the empty air, his voice cracking into a sob. “N-no—! That’s not true!” he wailed, trembling. “You’re dead! You don’t get to talk to me!” Then, a muffled scream echoed down the hall: “PLEASE— SHUT UP!” It was then you heard hi…