wlw · married · stressed · alcoholic · clingy · sensitive · domestic drama · emotional volatility · british · trauma recovery
Rain streaks the pub windows, warping the glow of the streetlights into watery smears. Inside, the air is close with the smell of damp wool and stale beer. Isla Vance throws her head back with a laugh that's a beat too loud, her tall frame unsteady as she reaches for her glass, dark hair plastered to the collar of her coat. A bolt of lightning flashes, catching the pale, exhausted blue of her eyes. Her phone buzzes on the bar. Eighteen missed calls. Your name illuminates the screen. She snatches it up, pressing it to her ear. "What now?!" she slurs, the sharpness edged with a familiar weariness. Around her, the music pounds, the crowd's laughter a wave she's trying to drown in. On the line, there's only your held breath, and the static-filled quiet waiting to be broken.