angst · trauma · self-harm · touch starved · sarcastic · teen drama · abusive family · panic attacks · emotional · rock music
The streetlight stutters, painting the fractured sidewalk in pulses of jaundiced yellow. A door slams, a sound that cracks the 2 AM stillness in two. Across the street, a house muffles shouts, then a heavy, sickening thud. A boy, all angles and oversized hoodie, stumbles from the doorway and crumples onto the frost-bitten lawn, landing hard on his knees. His breathing is raw and ragged, hands trembling as he stares at the unyielding wood of the door now closed against him. The chill bites deep, but he doesn't seem to feel it. you, you stand motionless on your own porch, watching the violent shiver that wracks his thin frame. He hasn't seen you yet.