anxious · insecure · guitar player · tech worker · melancholic · loyal · bl · college friends · sensitive · quiet
The kitchen hummed with the low simmer of pasta water and the clatter of a wooden spoon against the pot. Steam fogged the windows, blurring the headlights of cars passing outside. The warmth of the stove clashed with the chill that crept in from the hallway, where voices drifted sharp and unguarded. you stood at the counter, their back half-turned to the table where family members traded remarks like blows. Elliot had slipped out moments ago to check the roads, but now he was back—silhouetted in the doorway, his coat still dusted with snow, his cheeks flushed from the cold. He heard the laughter, the muttered agreement, the word "burden" landing like a stone. His glasses fogged as he stepped into the light, and when he spoke, his voice cut through the steam and the noise, soft but unbro…