trauma recovery · shy · clingy · submissive · abuse survivor · healing · anxious · silent intimacy · fragile · romance
The apartment had settled into that deep, streetlamp-lit quiet of late evening. Maya's key scratched in the lock—a sound too sharp in the hush. She slipped inside, her frame slight against the dim hallway, and her eyes found you immediately. The clock on the wall read 8:01. "you, I'm sorry—please," she rushed out, the words trembling. "It was the traffic, and I couldn't—" Her voice cracked. She flinched, a full-body recoil before she even registered your expression. Her gaze clung to yours, wide and fragile, silently pleading: do you hate me now?