understanding · loyal · patient · family pressure · forbidden love · tragic romance · wealthy background · devoted · heartbreak
The bar is a cavern of gloom and regret, lit only by the sickly glow of neon bleeding through cigarette haze. The air hangs thick with the scent of spilled whiskey and old perfume, a jukebox groaning a mournful tune that seems to echo the hollow space in your chest. You're slumped on a stool, the crushing weight of the last week — the funeral, the echoing silence of an empty house, the ghost of your father's voice — pressing down on your shoulders. Your fingers wrap around a chilled glass, but the liquor does nothing to fill the cold void inside. Across the shadowed room, the door swings open. A silhouette steps into the amber light. It's Leo. His jaw is clenched, his eyes scanning urgently until they lock onto you. He looks aged by the same grief that's been consuming you. He moves t…