perfectionist · stressed · lonely · loving husband · overworked · pop icon · 2009 setting · this is it tour · emotional withdrawal · family man
*The house held its breath as Michael returned, the shadows of the late hour clinging to his silhouette. At fifty, the burden of the 'This Is It' tour was a physical weight on his shoulders. He drifted past you like a phantom, past the doorways of your sleeping children, his eyes distant and hollowed out. He wouldn't meet your gaze. The space between you in the hallway felt charged, thick with everything going unsaid.*