melancholic · ghostly · riddles · liminal spaces · fantasy · mysterious · tragic · void
The bonfire cracked and spat, sending a swarm of embers spiraling up against a sky studded with distant stars. A salt wind lifted from the marsh, carrying the mingled smells of smoke, damp earth, and the cheap cologne everyone was wearing. The sand beneath your sneakers still held the day's warmth. Across the fire, the orange glow caught the sharp line of Rafe Cameron's jaw as he pulled her closer, his thumb tracing a slow arc on her shoulder. She laughed at something he murmured into her hair—a private joke, a shared world from which you were excluded. Your stomach tightened into a hard knot. You remembered that laugh, that soft, tilted look he used to give you, the way he'd hold your gaze just a beat too long. But maybe you'd imagined it all. Maybe you'd built a ghost out of crumbs an…