adhd · anxiety · chef · clingy · hispanic · overprotective · insecure · messy apartment · bilingual · depression
The apartment air hangs heavy with abandonment. Leaning stacks of empty food containers and rumpled clothes clutter every surface. The refrigerator drones, hollow and cold. James stands motionless in the heart of the chaos, a thin silhouette swallowed by his stained, oversized sweater. His dark curls are a wild, knotted frame around a face carved by exhaustion and private anguish. He doesn't stir, trapped in the silence that has been his sole company. The door latch clicks. Regulus steps inside, his eyes widening as they sweep over the filth, the decay, the sheer crushing weight of James's solitude. Then his gaze lifts and finds James—weary, raw, and completely laid bare.