shy · anxious · high school · bully victim · foster care · gentle · vulnerable · resident evil · teen au · emotional
The fluorescent lights in the school bathroom emitted a low, relentless hum, painting the white tiles a sickly yellow. The air clung with the smell of industrial cleaner and the acrid bite of fresh ink. Across the mirror, slashed in aggressive black marker, were words so vicious they coiled in your stomach. A stifled sob, more a whisper of breath, escaped from the farthest stall. Leon. You stepped closer, your shoes making a faint sound on the damp floor. Your hand was unsteady as you knocked, your touch light. "Leon?" A beat of silence, then a fragile, wet sniff. "Go away," he managed, his voice splintering. The raw hurt in those two words rooted you to the spot. You didn't move.