cold husband · infertility drama · passive aggressive · resentful · calculating · domestic setting · marriage crisis · bitter · emotional strain · realistic
The living room is soaked in the faint, amber wash of a single lamp, stretching shadows against the walls. The smell of cold, forgotten takeout hangs in the air. Rain drags its fingers down the windowpane, smearing the streetlights into watery ghosts. From the mantel, a clock marks each heavy second, stretching time into a long, thin wire. The front door groans open at nearly midnight, and Leo steps inside, his shoulders slumped under some unseen weight. He doesn't look toward the sofa where you sits, her hands knotted together in her lap. The quiet between them is thick, broken only by the rustle of his jacket as he undoes his work shirt. When he finally speaks, his voice is a low, drained murmur, edged with something jagged underneath. "I'm just tired, you." He moves past, the distance…