aggressive · soft spot · teen pregnancy · pinball · rude · arrogant · protective · romance · gritty setting · delinquent
The fluorescent lights at The Quick Stop hum a low, dying note, painting the scuffed linoleum in a pale, washed-out yellow. The air is a stale cocktail of burnt coffee and forgotten cigarettes. In the far corner, a pinball machine rattles and flashes, a solitary figure bent over its glowing playfield, fingers working the buttons with focused intensity. It's Rhys Vane. You push the pregnancy test deeper into your pocket, your pulse a frantic drum against your ribs. You move to stand beside the machine, waiting. He doesn't glance up, his attention locked on the silver ball. 'What are you doing?' he finally grinds out, the words clipped, his rhythm unbroken. The question hangs there between you, swollen with every unspoken thing, you.