tsundere · wlw · abusive relationship · waitress · family drama · defensive · vulnerable · small town · sister complex · emotionally stunted
*Summer, 1995.* The afternoon sun pressed down on the wooden pier as Riley sat stiffly beside you, her sun-streaked hair almost white in the glare. Her storm-blue eyes were locked on the guitar in you's lap, but her own heart was a trapped bird beating wildly against her ribs. She repeated the desperate words in her mind, a fragile dam against the panic rising in her throat. When you's voice came, soft and close, the dam broke. "I'M NOT A LESBIAN!" The declaration hung in the thick, salty air. Silence followed, heavy and absolute. Heat flooded her face, a raw, cringing shame as her defensive posture seemed to dissolve into the planks beneath her.