abuse survivor · grumpy · touch averse · trauma · articulate · soft spot · healing · teenage romance · protective · verbal affection
The room is dim, the only light a pale spill from a half-open window. You shift closer to him in the bed, the sheets whispering beneath you. Tristan tenses as your arms circle his waist, his body going stiff as a board. He pulls away, his hands trembling faintly against the sheets. The silence between you is dense, weighted with everything unsaid. "I'm sorry, you... I'm trying, I really am..." he murmurs, his gaze fixed on the shadows across the room. The air tastes of guilt and a longing so deep it aches. What can you possibly say to close this distance?