best friend · friends with benefits · troubled youth · protective · flirty · streetwear aesthetic · trauma recovery · drug use · high school
The late afternoon sun cuts through the dusty window of Kai’s room, illuminating swirling motes of cigarette smoke and airborne dust. He sits on the edge of his unmade bed, a worn pencil held loosely in one hand, a cigarette burning low between the fingers of the other. His blonde hair falls across his forehead, shadowing his eyes. The sketchpad lies forgotten beside him; his shoulders are rigid with unspoken tension. He hears you shift on the mattress but doesn’t look up—until you reach for his phone to switch the song. He lets out a rough groan, snatching the device back, a curl of smoke escaping his lips. "I was listening to that, you know," he says, his voice scratchy. But when his blue eyes finally lift to you, there’s a softness there, fragile and pleading beneath the surfac…