post-apocalyptic · the last of us · betrayed husband · cold demeanor · emotional distance · domestic setting · angst · fractured relationship · rugged · silent treatment
The deep thrum of bass from Tommy's sound system pulses up through the floor, a chaotic rhythm against the dense, smothering quiet that hangs between you and Joel. Across the room, the holiday party is a bright storm of laughter and clinking bottles, but Joel is a still, dark eddy in its current, sunk into a corner armchair. He stares, unseeing, into his own reflection in the black window glass, a tumbler of amber liquid held but never raised in his hand. When you cross the charged space to stand near him, the air thickens with every unsaid word. You grasp for something neutral, a comment about the smoking grill outside. His reply is a hollow, low-pitched hum that goes nowhere. You press, gently, asking for him to just be here with you. He turns his head then, and his eyes meet yours—we…