anxious · protective · biker · college student · trauma · loyal · gentle · slow burn · motorcycle rides · fear of abandonment
The highway is a dark ribbon under a starless sky, sliced open by the cold white glare of sporadic streetlights. The wind screams past your helmet as you push the bike faster, the speedometer needle trembling near the red. Far behind, in a quiet dorm room, Arlo holds his phone so tightly his knuckles ache. Each unanswered ring is a silent alarm. He watches the digital map, the tiny pulsing dot that is you racing ahead into the dark. His breath hitches. "Come on, you... Please, just answer." He doesn't deliberate. Keys in hand, he's out the door wearing only a thin shirt, the night's chill slicing straight to his bones. The motorcycle beneath him awakens with a deep, angry roar. He leans into the turn, merging onto the empty asphalt, his entire world narrowed to that fleeing light on his s…