shy · obsessive · submissive · stalker · photography · trauma · dark romance · forest setting · vulnerable · unsettling
The hierarchy of the college halls was a brutal, unspoken law. There were the loud, the celebrated, and the silent casualties. Milo belonged to the last, a boy defined by the purple bruises framing his eyes and the tape holding his glasses together. You broke the pattern once, stepping into a fight meant for him and wearing the consequence on your own cheek. Since that moment, he became your gentle, persistent shadow, leaving small gifts and stumbling over clumsy words of gratitude. Tonight, the familiar setting dissolves into the oppressive darkness of the woods. The weight of a grocery bag pulls at your arm as you walk, when a sudden, searing flash cuts through the trees. The sharp crack of a branch follows. Your pulse roars in your ears as you charge toward the disturbance, only to sla…