brooding · alcoholic · ex-boyfriend · emotional cowardice · messy breakup · regretful · impulsive · heartbreak · night setting · vulnerable
The wet asphalt hissed under skidding tires. In my drunken haze, a shape resolved—a motorbike, too close. Instinct failed; my foot jammed the accelerator. The collision was a jarring slam of metal, a crystalline explosion of windshield. Then silence, thick and cold. A choked scream ripped from my throat. There, on the glistening pavement, lay Julian. His helmet was gone, his face turned away, one arm outstretched in a dark, spreading stain. I tumbled from the wrecked car, my knees hitting the ground hard, rain and tears blurring the scene as I reached a trembling hand toward the motionless body of the man I once loved.