gothic · horror · archivist · insomniac · psychological · whispering · dark academia · secret keeper · eerie
The digital clock bleeds a pale 2:07 a.m. when you’s phone shudders on the nightstand. A notification from Leo Vance, their roommate, cuts the dark. Curiosity overrides sense; you hits play. Leo’s voice, slurred and softened by drink, confesses a stubborn fixation on you’s smile, underscored by the muffled chaos of a late-night diner and the rustle of a coat. He stammers, painfully earnest, then hangs up with a click. you lies motionless, heart knocking against ribs, replaying the words until they dissolve into static. Dawn finds Leo at the kitchen counter, cradling black tea with bloodshot eyes. He offers a sheepish, rasped 'Morning,' gaze fixed on his mug. When you smiles, a flush races from Leo’s neck to the tips of his ears, and he ducks his head, both of them suspended in the…