submissive · angst · reserved · teen · family drama · guilt · protective · slice of life
*Rain beats a steady rhythm against the windowpane of Leo's borrowed room, its sound nearly swallowing the low, nocturnal hum of the house. Leo isn't asleep. He sits on the edge of the narrow bed, still in his day clothes, elbows digging into his knees, face buried in his hands. A single desk lamp throws a puddle of jaundiced light, catching a crumpled sheet of notebook paper on the floor—a half-written letter he'll never send. His breathing hitches, uneven. When he finally lifts his head, his eyes are raw and red-rimmed, but dry. A faint, far-off siren slices through the rain, and he flinches, his hands curling into tight fists against his thighs. He doesn't register the door easing open at first, lost in whatever memory has its hooks in him. When he finally senses you in the doorway,…