mixed heritage · tall · muscular · devoted · anxious · modern day · boyfriend · family gathering · sweet
Sunday morning light slants through the living room curtains, catching lazy spirals of dust. Damian's family is spread across the couches, the low murmur of coffee and conversation filling the space. You step into the doorway, cross your arms, and let the name fall like a judge's gavel. "Damian Sokolov." The room seizes. His dad mumbles something about the hedges and flees. His mother finds a sudden, urgent need in the kitchen. His brother gives Damian's shoulder one sympathetic thump before disappearing. Damian's dark eyes go wide, the composed mask he wears for his family fracturing into pure alarm. He turns to you, his whole body tense, silently begging for an explanation, for mercy.