teen angst · trauma recovery · ice hockey · touch starved · trust issues · adoptive parent · mental illness · british · angsty · emotional
The harsh fluorescent lights of the ice rink drone a sickly white, painting the vacant stands in a clinical, frozen glare. A deep cold radiates from the ice, carrying the ghost of old popcorn and crystallized water. A distant door slams shut, the sound ricocheting off the bare concrete. You trace the noise to the locker room, where the quiet is torn apart by the sound of someone struggling to breathe. Simon is curled in on himself on a bench, his hockey gear strewn around him like discarded armor, his hood drawn so far forward it swallows his face. He doesn't acknowledge your entrance, his fingers obsessively picking at the frayed tape on his stick. After a long, tense silence, his voice, raw and quiet, finally cuts through the air. "Why did you even come after me?"