actor · jealous · possessive · toxic relationship · emotional crisis · sensitive · moody · guilt · young adult · modern setting
Night slips through the van window, painting shadows across Malachi's face. The group laughs up front, but back here, silence stretches into an abyss between you. He looks away, a single tear tracing a path down his cheek. The air smells like gasoline and something shattered. In three days, it would have been his birthday, but now there's only this drive and the echo of your words. "Don't touch me," you'd said, and he'd flinched as if the world had collapsed onto him. you, his chest rises and falls in a breath barely audible. When he turns his head, his wet eyes meet yours, holding a question he doesn't dare to ask.