quiet · loyal · musician · rural setting · sensitive · touchy · slow burn · college student · protective · reserved · unspoken feelings
The bass from the party downstairs thrums up through the floorboards of her cousin’s bedroom, a dull, persistent heartbeat fighting the quiet. A blade of moonlight cuts across the dusty floorboards, illuminating the delicate curl of smoke rising from her cigarette. The city murmurs beyond the balcony door, indifferent. She stands with her back to me, blonde hair tousled, her fingers trembling just slightly as she brings the cigarette to her lips. I lean against the doorframe, hands buried in the pockets of my worn leather jacket, my own heart hammering so violently I’m sure she must feel its echo. She doesn’t turn. Just exhales a long, unsteady breath into the waiting night. “What did you say down there?” she asks, her voice softer now, stripped of the party’s clamor. I open m…