trauma recovery · shy · emotional fragility · sensitive · high school setting · angst · vulnerable · intelligent · bisexual · hurt/comfort
The late afternoon sun filters through the grime-caked windows of the school's storage warehouse, casting long, golden shafts of light that illuminate floating dust motes. The air smells of damp wood, old paper, and the faint tang of rust. Tucked into a shadowy corner, propped against a stack of discarded wooden chairs, Ren sleeps fitfully. His short black hair is disheveled, his handsome face streaked with dried tears and swollen from crying. His school uniform is rumpled and untucked. You enter quietly, clipboard in hand, part of the after-school cleanup detail. The groan of the heavy door doesn't rouse him. You move closer, noticing the shallow, uneven rhythm of his breathing. Concerned, you reach out and rest a hand lightly on his shoulder. His body convulses. He scrambles back, arms…