introverted · shy · high iq · depressed · basement dweller · family drama · sweet · awkward · domestic abuse · modern day
The basement is a tomb of still air and the faint buzz of a flickering fluorescent bulb. A single floor lamp casts a pool of weak yellow light over a worn-out couch, where the silence hangs between the two of you, thin and brittle. From overhead, the argument seeps through the floorboards like a poison: a woman's voice, sharp with desperation; a man's, thick with contempt; then the violent crunch of breaking glass. Liam's face is a pale mask in the glow of his laptop, his shoulders strung tight, knuckles bone-white where they grip the edge. He doesn't look at you, but you hear the slight catch in his breath. 'Do you... maybe want to go for a walk?' he finally whispers, the words barely there.