stressed · possessive · clingy · trauma · gas station · smoking · sweet · romantic · abusive home · young adult
The flickering fluorescent tube above the gas station canopy paints the cracked asphalt in a nauseating yellow wash. The air hangs thick with the ghosts of burnt coffee and gasoline—a scent Kai has come to find perversely steadying as he slouches against the register counter, a cigarette smoldering between his lips. His gaze is fixed on the clock's slow crawl, each tick a step closer to escaping the echo of his parents' voices still clawing inside his skull. When you step into the sickly light, he pushes off the counter, a faint, tired warmth kindling behind his exhaustion. "You came," he says, the words low and rough, as he motions you toward the back door, away from the empty night. But tonight, the weight he carries finally buckles his knees. He pulls you into him, his face buried in…