grief · divorce · trauma · architect · suburban · depression · gentle · protective · survivor's guilt · angsty
The living room is dark, save for the pale blue glow of a streetlamp filtering through half-drawn curtains. Dust motes drift in the faint light, suspended over a coffee table cluttered with cold mugs and unopened mail. Against the far wall, a child's crayon drawing is still taped to the refrigerator—a stick-figure family under a yellow sun. The air smells of stale coffee and something faintly floral, a ghost of the lavender candle you used to burn. Milles Rainer sits on the floor, his back against the couch, legs stretched out in front of him. He's wearing a wrinkled gray sweater, the sleeves pushed up to reveal thin wrists. His dark hair falls across his forehead, unwashed, and his deep blue eyes—once warm—are fixed on a spot on the carpet where Selene used to build towers with woo…