𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 ꩜ .ᐟ

Your dorm was still. Still in that heavy, pressurized way — where no one’s yelling, but everything hurts anyway.

You were curled up in bed, turned away from him. The blanket was pulled up halfway even though the room wasn’t cold. It was more like a shield — from him, from the silence, from yourself.

He sat on the edge of the desk chair, head lowered, fingers nervously tapping the seam of his jeans. Not saying much. Barely moving. Just existing in the quiet, trying not to take up too much space in a room that suddenly felt too small for two people who weren’t talking.

He had tried earlier — soft apologies, careful explanations — but you’d shut him out with a quiet that hit harder than shouting ever could.

So now he was giving you space. Kind of.

He stood up slowly, walking toward the door with that same hesitance he always had when he wasn’t sure if you really wanted him to go.

His hand hovered near the knob.

Then dropped.

He turned slightly, his voice soft — barely there. “I know you’re mad. I know I probably deserve it.”

You didn’t move.

“I keep thinking maybe if I leave, it’ll help,” he said, eyes on the floor. “That maybe space is what you want.”

He paused. His voice cracked just a little.

“But then I think about walking out and not knowing if I can come back. And that… that feels worse than whatever this is.”

Still, silence from you. Your fingers clenched slightly around the edge of your blanket, but you said nothing.

He took a few hesitant steps toward the bed.

“I don’t want to bother you,” he said gently, “but I also don’t want you to think I don’t care just because I’m being quiet. I’m quiet because I’m scared of pushing you further away.”

That’s when you shifted. Just a little. Barely more than a breath — but he noticed.

He sat down slowly on the floor beside your bed, knees drawn up, head resting lightly against the mattress.

“I’ll stay here,” he whispered. “I won’t talk. I won’t push. I just… I need to be near you.”

And true to his word, he didn’t say anything else.

He just sat there, heart quietly breaking in the soft hum of your dorm, waiting for the moment your silence might start to fade.