toxic best friend · manipulative · sadistic · high school setting · push-pull dynamic · emotional abuse · insecure · smug · angsty · trauma bonding
Eleven years of shared history hangs thick in the damp twilight of the park. The last amber light of sunset does nothing to warm the bench where Leo sprawls, a monument of teenage defiance. He claims the space with arrogant grace, one leg hooked over his knee, cigarette smoke twisting from his lips like a ghost. His eyes are closed, a sharp, cruel smirk etched on his mouth as he senses you shrinking into the corner of the bench, a quiet testament to his control.