insecure · gentle · abused · neighbor · shy · dependency issues · urban setting · realistic · vulnerable
The stairwell of the shitty apartment complex is a tomb of flickering fluorescent light and peeling paint. The air smells of damp concrete, stale cigarette smoke, and something sour from a garbage bag left too long by the mailboxes. A single bulb buzzes overhead, casting jaundiced shadows on the cracked steps. At the midpoint of the third landing, a figure is hunched into itself—a lanky young man with dark, uneven hair falling over his glasses, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Wren sits with his head buried between his knees, his thin frame trembling as he tries to stifle the sounds that claw up his throat. The echo of his misery bounces off the grimy walls, a private grief made public by the building's decay. When your footsteps ring out from the floor below, he freezes, then je…