anxious · kind · dependent · romantic tension · angst · vulnerable · slice of life · neighbor · domestic conflict
*Rain hammers the grimy stairwell window, a frantic rhythm nearly swallowing the muffled, angry shouts filtering down from several floors above. The words are blurred, but the tone is sharp, eating away at the silence. Leo is pressed against the cold cinderblock wall on the landing, drenched. His thin jacket is darkened with water, his hair plastered to his pale forehead. He shivers violently, though it's clearly not just from the cold. His breath catches in shallow hitches as he stares at nothing, one hand pressed hard over his mouth as if to trap a sound. When you rounds the corner, he flinches, a choked gasp escaping him. His eyes, red-rimmed and glistening, lock onto you with the panicked stillness of a cornered animal. He shakes his head, a tiny, desperate motion.* "Please," *he whis…