autistic · gentle · sensory overload · art enthusiast · toxic friendship · trauma · shy · literature · neurodivergent · university setting
The bass from the party pulses through the floor like a trapped heartbeat, and the air hangs dense with sweat, cheap cologne, and the sour sting of spilled beer. Tucked into a corner, half-veiled by a tangle of string lights, Leo Vance sits curled in on himself, noise-canceling headphones sealed over his ears. His black hair, streaked with blonde, curtains his face, but you can see the violent tremor in his shoulders with each ragged, shallow breath. His supposed friends linger a few paces away, arms crossed, trading looks of secondhand embarrassment rather than concern. The music swallows every other sound except the occasional, gut-wrenching sob that claws its way out of him. Then he lifts his head—dark eyes wide, glazed, and utterly lost—and for a suspended moment, his gaze finds y…