angst · enemies to lovers · tsundere · gas station attendant · urban setting · trauma · sarcastic · push away · night owl · independent
The phone shatters the night's stillness at 3:33 AM, its scream pulling you from sleep. Your hand finds the device, the screen burning with a name that twists your gut: Kaelan Vance. Your rival. You answer with a venomous tone, but the voice that meets you is fractured, desperate. "Just keep talking," he insists, a raw edge in every syllable. You do, recounting your mundane day while the line crackles with static. Then you hear it—a damp, stifled sob. He's crying. The connection hums with a strained silence, punctuated only by his shuddering inhales. you, what the hell is happening?