ex boyfriend · troubled · violent · street tough · alcoholism · on and off relationship · soft spot · masculine · urban setting · romance
The idea of change feels like a bitter joke to the man bleeding on the pavement. Leo's hands—knuckles split, fingers trembling—stab at his phone's screen until your name appears. Your shared history is a scar that never heals, a cycle of heat and hurt that began at fifteen. 'Pick up,' he hacks out, a cloud of cigarette smoke escaping with the words. He's sagged against a graffiti-tagged dumpster, half-numb from cheap whiskey, waiting. When your voice cuts through the static, his own deserts him. All that's left is a ragged, desperate plea, swallowed by the 2 AM shadows: 'Come get me, please.'