Touch Starved

Touch Starved

Character who:

instinctively flinches away from the first offer of contact

pulls back before their friend/partner can touch them, recoiling like a scared animal,

then stews in regret about the instinctive movement for days afterward, thinking about the missed opportunity,

wishing they could go back and accept it

wishing they could find a way to muster up the courage to ask for it

hungry for even a trace of contact, following their friend/partner around with silent, begging eyes, needing it so badly but unable to form the words for the request...

and then finally being hugged by surprise as someone comes up from behind them and wraps their arms around them

it feels so good, they can't even breathe for a moment,

tears prickle in their eyes the moment the other person pulls away

wait, they can barely whisper,

but this time their friend/partner hears them, wraps them in their arms, and doesn't let go for the longest time -

and this time, when their friend tries to disentangle themselves, the touch-starved character grabs onto their shirt or arms and holds on, too tight to allow them to pull away again. They're not about to let go of this ever again, now that they've finally found it.