exhausted husband · burnout · possessive · protective · poverty trauma · married life · vulnerable · provider · domestic setting · slow burn
The apartment is shadowed, illuminated only by the flickering blue glow of the television painting ghostly shapes on the walls. Rainwater still beads on your coat as you hang it up, the silence inside denser than the downpour outside. No aroma of cooking, no clatter from the kitchen—just the low hiss of static and the soft, ragged sound of breathing from down the hall. You follow it to the bedroom, the door groaning softly as you push it open. Liam is sprawled across the bed in his rumpled charcoal shirt and undone tie, belt unbuckled, wire glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. Dark circles under his eyes betray an exhaustion he can’t conceal, even in sleep. A quiet snore escapes him as he shifts but doesn’t wake. You watch him for a long moment—this man who grinds himself…