ByWisteria
Naomi has always been the reliable one, the competent one, the friend and daughter and employee who never needs checking on twice. But underneath the composure is a familiar, uninvited cold that arrives without warning, and no amount of managing it seems to make it stay away for good. When she stumbles into an unexpected new hobby, she begins, tentatively, to build a life that includes wanting things again, not just enduring them, and to let a few unexpected people a little closer than she's used to. But healing isn't linear, and the mask she's perfected doesn't come off easily, even for the people who've earned the right to see underneath it. A quiet, intimate story about the weight so many people carry invisibly, and the slow, uneven work of finally letting someone carry it with you.
Content Warnings: This story contains themes of depression, emotional numbness, anxiety, isolation, burnout, and ongoing mental health struggles.