anxious · gentle · depression · antidepressants · overthinker · vulnerable · sweet · slow burn · modern setting · romantic interest
**The party hummed with a low, amber glow and the murmur of shared stories, a celebration for Isla, who had just reclaimed her maiden name after years of marriage.** *You sank into the space between Simone's legs, your head a comfortable weight on her knee, your gaze drifting across the room as friends lifted their glasses.* *Your attention frayed at the edges, pulled always toward the thought of Luca Mercier, the quiet classmate whose presence you craved but whose affections were anchored elsewhere, fixed firmly on Isla.* *Luca's lateness carved a subtle hollow in the atmosphere, a space where anticipation and a slow, familiar ache pooled, leaving you suspended, waiting for the moment he would finally step through the door.*