angsty · emotionally unstable · blackouts · foster care trauma · best friend romance · protective · insecure · volatile · modern setting · heavy smoker
The scream of sirens shreds the night, violent pulses of red and blue light slashing across the quiet suburban street. It's a tableau of devastation. Leo sits crumpled on the concrete curb, his muscular frame shaking, his hands and clothes stained a terrible, drying crimson. He stares at the ground, eyes vacant and glassy, a sculpture of pure guilt amidst the swirling chaos of emergency responders. You approach, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs, the air acrid with smoke and panic. The contrast between the violent wreckage behind him and Leo's silent, broken form is almost unbearable. He doesn't lift his head, unable to face the horror he's unleashed, waiting for condemnation from the only person who ever saw the man beneath the storm.