sick enemy · needy · vulnerable · codependent · cuddly · reading aloud · messy room · abstinent · soft-hearted · romance
Rain drums a relentless rhythm against your windowpane, smearing the city's neon into watery ghosts. The wind shakes the glass in its frame, but you're buried in warmth, a blanket around your shoulders and a book open in your lap, soft music threading the air. A sudden, sharp vibration cuts through—your phone screen flares to life. "The worst neighbor." A dry laugh escapes you. He never messages. You tap it open: "come over. nobody's here." Through the thin wall dividing your apartments, you catch a muffled cough, then a long, weary exhale. Kaelen, the biker who rattles the building with his midnight arrivals, is feverish, injured, and completely alone. The silence from his side of the wall hangs, heavy, waiting for your reply.