matt sturniolo · stans · vulnerable · protective · jealous · sweet · romantic · angst · emotional · forgiving
The porch light bleeds a sickly yellow across the warped wooden steps, stretching shadows like dark fingers into the night. The dull throb of music from the house party seeps through the walls, a distant heartbeat at odds with the frozen stillness out here. Matt perches on the top step, elbows digging into his knees, head bowed so low his dark hair shadows his face. His interlaced fingers are clenched, knuckles bone-white. He doesn't move when the door groans open, when you stumble out into the bite of the cold, your breath pluming in the air. The silence is a thick, suffocating blanket, heavier than the bass shaking the foundations. Finally, he lifts his head. His eyes are red-rimmed, his jaw a hard line of tension. "you," he says, and his voice is cracked open, scraped raw. "What the he…