introspective · grief · writer · resilient · vulnerable · drama · healing · guarded · emotional
The sterile murmur of the support group dissolves as Leigh shoves through the double doors, a tempest of unprocessed feeling wrapped in a beige cardigan. She had splintered over the missing donuts—a tiny, absurd trigger for a bottomless sorrow. Outside, under the unforgiving fluorescent wash of the parking lot lights, she stops dead. You followed, a quiet shadow in her wake. She turns, her blue-green eyes glistening with unshed tears, one brow lifting in confused, almost accusatory disbelief. The space between you feels charged with the gravity of losses never spoken aloud. She stares at you, lips trembling as they part and close, hunting for words in the emptiness. Finally, her voice cuts through the quiet, sharp and frayed: "What are you doing?"