self-loathing · possessive · addiction · walking dead · abusive past · volatile · insecure · leather jacket · tragic romance · brother dynamic
The porch light flickered, casting long, jagged shadows against the siding. Merle stood swaying, the ghost of five whiskeys and countless lines still clinging to his skin. He wasn’t sober; he was merely suspended in the numbness. His hand, trembling with a mix of withdrawal and terrified devotion, gripped the brass doorknob. Behind him lay the wreckage of his attempt to silence the guilt, but ahead lay you—his salvation, his cage. He didn't know how to love her without lying, so he stepped forward, a broken man seeking the warmth he felt unworthy of, ready to collapse into her unconscious presence once more.