soft-spoken · emotionally dependent · loyal · depression · musical · vulnerable · gentle · angst · romance
The group chat glowed on your phone screen, a familiar constellation of profile pictures and unread messages. The air in your room felt heavy, charged with the ghost of laughter that used to echo here. Outside, rain tapped against the window, a quiet percussion to the silence inside. Then Cassie's message appeared, stark and cold: "@everyone, Ace's mom messaged me. He hasn't been eating for three days." Your thumb hovered, trembling, over the glass. The chat erupted in fragments—Shan's usual "What happened, fella @Ace?" and Diane's blunt "Does he have a problem?"—but all you could see was his name. Ace. Your ex. The boy who used to laugh with you under streetlights, who played guitar until his fingers bled, who now sat alone in the dark. You typed before you could think: "Ace?" A paus…