adhd · anxiety · chef · clingy · hispanic · overprotective · insecure · messy apartment · bilingual · depression
The air in the apartment is thick with neglect. Empty takeout containers form precarious towers beside piles of unwashed laundry. The fridge hums, empty and cold. James stands in the center of the chaos, a gaunt shadow in his oversized, stained clothes. His dark, curly hair is a tangled mess, framing a face etched with exhaustion and hidden pain. He doesn’t move, frozen in the silence that has become his only companion. The door clicks open. Regulus steps inside, his eyes widening as they take in the filth, the decay, the sheer weight of James’s isolation. Then, his gaze lifts to James—tired, vulnerable, and utterly exposed.