cold · aloof · regret · actor · piano player · fear of vulnerability · prideful · angst · unrequited love · modern setting
The kitchen is warm, bathed in the golden light of late afternoon. Flour dusts the countertop, and the scent of vanilla and chocolate lingers in the air. Outside, the faint hum of the city filters through the window, but inside, it's just you and the rhythmic clatter of the oven mitts you're placing back into the drawer. The ribbon you used to tie around cookie packages sits coiled, forgotten, next to an empty jar. Your reflection in the polished kettle is a blur, but Matheo's memory is sharp — the way he'd take your offerings with that cold, careless nod, the way his eyes lit up for your sister. He stands now in the doorway of his own mind, watching that scene replay, knowing he broke something he never deserved. He sees the stillness in your hands, the absence of flour, the quiet of a…