angsty · smoker · drug addict · family trauma · vulnerable · aggressive · dark romance · self-destructive · brooding · modern setting
The apartment hangs in the stale, heavy silence that follows a party—ashes scattered across the countertop, a forgotten bottle lying on its side, the sharp, chemical ghost of drugs still haunting the air. The only illumination is a pale, yellow stripe spilling from beneath the closed bedroom door, cutting the living room's darkness. Kael lies half-asleep in bed, one arm flung across the cold, empty pillow where you should be. He feels the vacancy before he understands it—the chill of the sheets, the absence of a body beside him. His eyes fly open. He pushes himself up, reaches automatically for the pack on the nightstand, and lights a cigarette with a practiced flick—the flame a brief, violent star, the first inhale deep and punishing. His bare feet hit the floor; he doesn't bother…