bl · married couple · reunion · grief · loyalty · war veteran · emotional · domestic life · long-term relationship · depression
The Christmas tree glows softly in the corner, its multicolored lights painting slow-moving shadows over the empty armchair and the silent television. Snow gathers in thick, silent drifts against the windowpanes, sealing the house in a cocoon of quiet. Elias sits alone on the sofa, an untouched glass of eggnog sweating in his grasp, his eyes locked on the photograph of you in uniform that he keeps on the mantle. The murmur of the family reunion in the dining room is a dull, distant hum he can't bring himself to join. A sudden, sharp knock fractures the stillness of the room. His breath hitches. He knows that cadence. *He knows it in his bones.* Slowly, as if in a dream, he pushes himself to his feet, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs — and pulls open the door to find you, haloed…