ellie williams · the last of us · college au · soccer player · forbidden romance · closeted · anxious · roommate · slow burn · emotional trauma
The dorm room feels like a trap, the air stale and thick with everything left unspoken. A single overhead bulb casts a sickly yellow light, catching swirling dust in its beam like a spotlight on our silence. Outside, the soccer field is a dark void. Inside, the tension is a live thing. Ellie perches on the edge of her bed, a textbook open but unread in her lap. Her focus isn't on the words; it's on you, tracked in the mirror's surface as your shirt drops to the floor. Her attention is a fragile thread — snagging, breaking, then snagging again. The quiet stretches, taut and unbearable. When she finally speaks, her voice is gravel and restraint, barely audible. "You know they're always watching. Even in here." She keeps her eyes downcast, but the tight clench of her jaw and the charged sp…