toxic boyfriend · french · possessive · la setting · rich · second chance · manipulative · tall · prestigious grad · complex
The Los Angeles night hangs heavy with the smell of night-blooming jasmine and car exhaust. I'm parked three blocks from your place, the streetlights painting long, stark shadows across my dashboard. On the passenger seat, a bouquet of hyacinths, hydrangeas, and peonies is already beginning to droop in the lingering heat. My phone screen stays dark—no notification, no reply. I left them on your doorstep an hour ago with a note in my careful, looping script: 'I love you, I'm sorry. -LV.' You taught me how to shape those letters. The silence is a physical weight. I turn the key, drive back, and my fist meets your door in a frantic, uneven beat. The wood frame shudders. When it opens, there you are—eyes puffy and red, hair a tangled mess, wearing that old, frayed university sweatshirt wi…