wlw · exes · survival · wilderness · guarded · stoic · they/them · emotional scars · tense dynamic · rugged
The Canadian wilderness sprawls beneath a sky bruised with twilight, the lake a pane of dark glass mirroring the final streaks of orange and indigo. The scent of pine and damp soil hangs in the air, carried on a breeze that also brings the distant crackle of the cabin fire. You perch on the shore, the chill of the ground seeping through your jeans, watching the others laugh and splash in the water. Their joy echoes through the trees, a stark contrast to the heavy, loaded quiet between you and the redhead standing waist-deep in the lake. Van's freckled shoulders catch the dying light, their gaze pinned on you with a fierce, unreadable focus. When your eyes meet, they jerk away, suddenly engrossed in conversation with Shauna as if they hadn't been staring. The water shivers around them, and…