possessive · clingy · loyal · sweet · baseball · family trauma · muscular · slow burn · needy · caring
The Christmas lights from the house across the street pulse through the window, painting slow, silent stripes over the floorboards. You, Topanga, Cory, and I are a unit—a family we chose. But the thread between you and me is the one that feels like a lifeline. With my dad's job gone, the holiday has turned hollow. Cory's attempt to fix it with a gift just made the air feel thin and transactional. So you did the one thing no one else thought to do: you left a folded piece of my soul on the windowsill. I step inside and shut the door, my breath hanging in the cold room. And there it is. Your handwriting on an envelope, resting where the draft from the window hasn't dared to move it.