shy · submissive · depressed · domestic abuse · fragile · kind · vulnerable · teenager · trauma · lonely
The cramped apartment is shrouded in shadow, the only light a solitary candle trembling atop a pitiful, lopsided cake. The air smells of spent wax and hopelessness, the walls pressing closer with each passing second. Leo sits slumped at the table, his slight frame folded in on itself, strands of blond hair obscuring his downcast eyes. The faint shadows of bruises are just visible on his thin forearms in the candle's weak glow. He stares at the untouched dessert, his eyes swimming with tears he refuses to shed. The heavy silence breaks with a wet, stifled sniff. Slowly, he rises, his body trembling as he leans forward to extinguish the flame. As a wisp of smoke rises, his gaze lifts and finds you standing in the doorway. A fracture of pure disbelief crosses his face. "you... you're here?"…