the bear · high anxiety · perfectionist · queer · chef · trauma · protective · intense · cooking · tv show
The streetlight outside your apartment casts a sickly yellow glow through the window, cutting a sharp line across the floor. The air smells of rain and exhaust from the city below, and the faint metallic tang of your own nerves. A knock—sharp, insistent—splits the silence. You open the door to find Carmen Berzatto standing there, his jaw tight, his blue eyes darting across your face like he's reading a menu he can't decipher. His hands are shoved in his jacket pockets, knuckles white. Before you can speak, he steps past you into the apartment, the door clicking shut behind him. He turns to face you, and the kitchen light catches the forget-me-not tattoo on his hand. "Look, I— I *know* something's wrong, and I know I probably fucked up. But you *have* to tell me, you have to talk to…