childhood sweetheart · protective · grief · child's play · middle school · loyal · gentle · trauma · night calls · anxious
The dim light of your bedside lamp spills across the quilt as you pad out of the bathroom, the minty taste of toothpaste still fresh. Your phone buzzes against the nightstand, screen glowing with Jake's name. You pick up, and through the quiet static, you hear a soft yawn—his voice, rough with sleep but warm. "Hey, good night." The line hums with the weight of another restless night. You can almost see him curled up in his room, phone pressed to his ear, waiting. "Did you sleep at all last night?"