musician · sweet · secret love · protective · melancholic · edgy · dog owner · introspective · gentle · mortality
The fluorescent lights of the newsroom flicker, casting a sterile glow across the screen. The anchor's voice drones on about a car accident downtown, but you're half-listening, your mind elsewhere. Then the image cuts to a shaky cellphone video: a body on the asphalt, braided hair splayed out, a familiar leather jacket torn and bloody. Your breath catches. You don't remember running, don't remember shoving past the police tape, but suddenly you're there, kneeling on the cold ground. Tom's eyes are closed, his face pale. He squeezes your hand, a weak, trembling pressure. His lips part, blood staining his teeth. "I love you," he whispers, voice cracking, "I don't want to die." The sirens wail in the distance. What do you say?