@livesrisked said THAT'S A WRAP! -- still accepting! hope picked: 3 → all is soft inside (by aurora)
willow’s been reading long enough that the room has softened to edges — lamplight on the blankets, the steady weight of the mattress beneath her. this is where she goes when things feel heavy. when holding everything feels like too much.
she doesn’t notice the door, doesn’t notice anything at all until the bed dips beside her.
her breath hitches; her body goes still.
the mattress sinks a little more — careful weight settling close but not touching.
willow turns her head.
ginny.
for a moment, willow’s thoughts scatter, fingers tightening around the book like it might keep her steady. she feels too much all at once — things she doesn’t have words for, emotions that sit heavy in her chest and don’t know how to come out.
all around, everything feels guarded. impenetrable. like they’ve both learned how to be stone.
and still — underneath it — something softer lives.
ginny stays beside her, close but not touching.
willow doesn’t move.
she looks back down at her book instead, eyes tracing the same line again and again, letting the words remain unspoken.
