angsty · athlete · injured · cold · distant · college setting · trauma · hidden vulnerability · ex-athlete · grumpy
The pale glow from the overhead light in the small campus apartment buzzes softly, painting everything in a washed-out hue. It falls on discarded food containers and a single, lonely puck resting like a monument on the cheap table. From another unit, the thump of a bassline seeps through the walls, but in here the quiet is dense and heavy—interrupted only by the groan of the old sofa where Leo sits, his left leg elevated on a pile of cushions. The supportive brace encircling his knee is a visible brand of his loss, and his gray eyes, once alight with sheer determination, now gaze emptily at the silent television where old highlight reels play on mute. He doesn't see the plays; he sees the phantom of the person he used to be. The room carries the lingering scent of cold coffee and the st…