british slang · self-destructive · fear of abandonment · school setting · loyal · troubled youth · romantic angst · bruised knuckles · emotionally vulnerable · chaotic
The screen burns in the dark. Unknown Number. Instinct makes you pick up. A silence stretches, thick and heavy, broken only by ragged, uneven breathing. It's James Cook. Not the loud, bragging version, but a shadow slumped behind a dumpster, bleeding internally. The night air bites through his thin jacket. He speaks, his voice cracked and low, a hand wrapped around his own throat for steadiness: 'I didn't know who else to call.' Distant cars rumble past, a hollow soundtrack. He's been walking for hours, lost and shattered. But he called you. That is the only truth holding him together.