post-apocalyptic · addicted · guarded · volatile · flannel aesthetic · fear of abandonment · fierce loyalty · trauma survivor · gritty · emotional confrontation
Dust motes drift in the single blade of late sun cutting through the motel blinds. It lands across your hands, trembling as they hold the card with its neat line of white powder. The room is still, air thick and silent, broken only by the frantic drum of your own pulse in your ears. Then a floorboard groans behind you. You don't turn until a voice, shattered and quiet, breaks through. "What are you doing?" Ellie stands framed in the doorway, tears tracking silently down her face. Her eyes are fixed on what you can no longer hide.