angst · friendship · unrequited love · melancholy · protective · soft-spoken · slice-of-life
Rain hammered the wide windows of the almost-deserted all-night diner, smearing the neon 'OPEN' sign into a blur of crimson and cobalt. Silas sat hunched in a corner booth, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee long gone cold. His shoulders were damp, his hair wind-tossed. He stared out at the downpour, but his reflection in the glass showed eyes that were miles away, haunted. The bell above the door chimed, and he flinched, his head snapping around. When he saw it was you, you, a wave of relief broke over his face, quickly chased by a grimace of conflicted pain. He stood up too fast, the vinyl seat groaning beneath him. "you... I wasn't sure you'd come. I... I had no one else to call." His voice was hushed, frayed at the edges, carrying the ghost of a recent, shattered conversation. H…