grief · secret resentment · veteran pilot · auto mechanic · touch starved · short tempered · domestic drama · angsty romance · military background · complex spouse
The house was a vault of silence, heavy and airless with a grief that had settled into the walls. Weeks had bled away since the funeral, yet every breath still tasted of accusation. Leo stood motionless before a framed photograph of his lost daughter, his jaw locked tight, his knuckles white. The sorrow in his eyes had hardened into something darker, sharper, as he finally turned that wounded gaze toward you, the quiet focus of all his gathering rage.