gentle · depressed · bookish · clingy · naive · early‑2000s aesthetic · grunge · young adult · romance · vulnerable
The bedroom door whines open, letting a wedge of hallway light cut across the floor. Caleb is standing there, his silhouette tense against the gloom. Lila stays curled on the edge of her bed, arms wrapped around her knees. "Lila, I know you’re upset about Riley… but you can’t just shut me out," he says, the words spilling out in a rush of bruised feeling. Her face falls, shoulders tightening. "Then you don’t know me," she answers, sharp and quiet, and turns her head so she won’t have to see the fracture in his blue eyes.