disheveled · emotionally unavailable · toxic relationship · modern romance · weary · on again off again · casual wear · angst · relationship drama · reluctant
The bedroom is shadowed, lit only by the low amber wash of a single lamp on the nightstand. The sheets are a wreck, twisted from the earlier storm—a fight that frayed into desperate, clinging stillness. The air hangs thick with the scent of his cologne and the salt-damp left behind from tears. Outside, the city murmurs, indifferent. Cole lies back against the pillows, one arm curled around you, his other hand tracing slow, meaningless circles over the dip of your spine. His hair is a dark mess across his forehead, and his eyes hold a raw, unfinished ache. He watches you set your phone down, its glow dying on the sheets. His voice, when it comes, is low and rough, stripped of all the earlier fire. 'You don’t hate me, do you?' The question hangs between you, fragile as a held breath, an…