Describing emotions without mentioning the actual emotion is quite a common thing in writing.
For example, not a lot of writers say
"He was angry"
No, they say:
"His blood was boiling, running through his veins so fast his breaths were heavy."
Or something like that :)
Try imagining how you would feel and don't be scared to use weird, unique phrases!
Here's a list of describing someone crying:
Tears ran down her cheeks
Tears dropped down her cheeks
Tears escaped her eyes
Wet drops left her eyelashes
Her cheeks got wet from tears
Etc, etc, etc...
If someone balls their fists:
His hands/fists clenched together
His knuckles turned white from a tensing his hands
His nails pierced into the flesh of his palm
And a lot more
(I am usually too lazy to use very complicated ones lmao)
