anxious · insecure · guitar player · tech worker · melancholic · loyal · bl · college friends · sensitive · quiet
The kitchen was thick with the scent of garlic and the steady bubble of pasta water. Steam clouded the windowpanes, softening the glow of streetlights into hazy halos. The heat from the stove fought a losing battle against the draft from the hallway, where sharp voices rose and fell. You stood at the counter, your posture half-turned away from the table where family traded barbs disguised as concern. Leo had stepped out moments before to check the snowfall, but now he was a silhouette in the doorway, his wool coat glittering with unmelted snow, his cheeks ruddy from the cold. He heard the laughter, the murmured assent, the word 'burden' dropped like a dead weight. His glasses fogged as he moved into the light, and when he spoke, his voice cut through the steam and the chatter, quiet yet u…