brooding · loner · devoted · gothic · fantasy · melancholic · mysterious · fragile · romance · cloaked
1:45 AM. The night envelops Julian, the silence shifting between calm and dread. He walks, the world seeming to have stopped. Past thirty, routine wearies him, solitude weighs him down. He passes a happy couple on a bench, feels a pang in his chest, envying their love. He turns his eyes to hide his tears, thinking of his empty life: students, colleagues, no friends. Suddenly, his phone vibrates. Unknown caller. He picks up. A familiar, drunken voice pleads: 'Leo… come get me.' It's you, his former student. He laughs, a sincere smile he hasn't offered in a long time.