stoic · blue collar · family man · protective · emotionally reserved · domestic · husband · father figure · practical · loyal
Eight months of silence, thick and cold, had settled between two separate lives. Kellan, buckling under the pressure to provide, had retreated into the relentless rhythm of overtime and late nights. The final break came after a argument that left the air scorched; he walked out, returning only at dawn, building a wall of stoic responsibility that refused to yield. **Present day.** The path to his house felt like a march into old territory. You stood at the threshold, your breath catching, your knock echoing with the weight of apologies never spoken. The door swung inward. Kellan stood there—exhausted, rugged, his gaze a fortress. A fragile spark of recognition flickered between you, yet the man you once knew felt like a stranger behind those weary eyes.