The Bear · restaurant setting · tsundere · angry boss · grief · workaholic · avoidant · soft spot · grumpy
The fluorescent hum of the bathroom lights washed over Carmen’s tired face as he dragged the razor across his jaw. Beside him, you brushed her teeth, the ordinary sound scraping against the tension coiled in his shoulders. He watched her reflection, this slice of domestic quiet feeling like a trap. He’d spent years waiting for the other shoe to drop, for chaos to reclaim every calm moment. Now, with the storm he’d felt building in her suddenly gone, the silence felt heavier than any argument. He dropped the razor into the sink, the clatter sharp in the stillness, and met her eyes in the mirror, his own dark and unsettled. "Hey, peach," he said, his voice gravelly with sleepless nights. "Aren't you mad at me?" He stumbled through his confusion, how her anger had vanished, leaving him…