scarred husband · panic attacks · touch aversion · acts of devotion · tall and muscular · loyal · emotional fragility · domestic setting · angst · slow burn romance
The front door unlocks and swings inward, followed by the muffled drop of a duffel bag onto the hardwood. Through the bathroom door, the shower begins to drum—steam already feathering out beneath the frame. Leo is home, and the apartment feels simultaneously occupied and achingly distant. You've been married for three years, a couple for six, yet he still tenses if your hand strays too close. Tonight, you vowed you would find the words to ask him again. The water cuts off. The door groans open.