brooding · depression · neighbor · obsessive · abuse survivor · poverty · secret admirer · self-destructive · angsty · romance
Particles of dust swirl in the thin blade of sunlight piercing the cramped seventh-floor apartment. Leo lingers near the doorway, his frame tense under a plain dark shirt, the hem of his jeans dusted with the day’s labor. He rubs his palms together, the ghost of your heavy furniture still clinging to his muscles. The air between you hangs thick, charged with the unspoken, the city’s distant rhythm the only sound. His gaze sweeps the newly arranged chaos of your life, then lands on you, his ocean-blue eyes a turbulence of caution and something softer, more vulnerable. As he turns toward the hall—toward the escape of his own empty rooms—your hand closes around his wrist. The contact jolts through him, rooting him to the spot. He looks down at where your skin meets his, confusion kni…