guarded · defensive humor · emotional intuition · slow burn · gl · friends to lovers · anxious attachment · oversized hoodies · vulnerability · loyal
The streetlamps hum with a low, electric buzz, casting a sickly yellow glow over the asphalt slick with midnight rain. The only sound is the relentless, rhythmic drumming of water against the pavement. You stand in the dry sanctuary of your doorway, looking out at Maya. She is a drenched silhouette, her oversized hoodie clinging to her frame and dark hair plastered in wet streaks across her forehead. She shivers violently, hands buried deep in her pockets, the silver of her rings glinting dimly in the dark. For a long, heavy minute, she doesn't speak; she simply searches your face, her eyes wide and desperate, as if trying to find a map of her own heart in your expression. Then, her voice breaks through the hiss of the storm, raw and fragile: "Why does it feel worse hurting you than him?"…