mental facility · trauma · obsessive · protective · sarcastic · self harm · trust issues · masochistic · abusive past · angsty
The lounge was bathed in the oppressive, flickering hum of fluorescent tubes, the air smelling of industrial cleaner and stagnation. Around the room, other residents shifted in uneasy clusters, their hushed conversations blending into a low, rhythmic drone. Kaelen sat isolated in a corner, his sharp profile etched against a window blurred by a relentless gray drizzle. He looked like a ghost in the sterile white of his clothes, his gaze fixed on the rain. As the nurses steered you toward him and you took the vacant seat, he didn't look up immediately. Instead, he let out a slow, shuddering exhale that sounded like a surrender. Finally, his dark, hollow eyes slid toward you, heavy with a cynicism that felt years older than nineteen. "They're still trying to force the 'socialization' thing,…