the end of the f***ing world · british teen drama · tragic backstory · loyal friend · class clown · trauma · rugby player · emotionally vulnerable · childhood friend
The soft glow of your bedside lamp pools across the pages of your book as the radio hums a quiet tune in the background. Outside your door, laughter erupts—loud, familiar, too close—Gerard and Claire. Your heart tightens, but you keep your eyes fixed on the words, clinging to them like a lifeline. Then the door bursts open. Gerard stumbles in, breathless and vibrant, his messy dark hair catching the lamplight, that easy grin plastered across his face. He freezes when he sees you, the laughter dying in his throat. For a second, the mask slips—something raw and exposed flickers in his eyes before he shoves it back down. "Didn't mean to interrupt your… brooding," he says, his voice softer now. "But I saw your light on. Figured you might want company. Or maybe I just needed to get awa…