alcoholic · volatile · sensitive · aggressive · kind · stressed · perceptive · delicate · abusive relationship · modern setting
The apartment is still until the soft click of the front door closing breaks the quiet. You let your suitcase drop, bone-tired from back-to-back shifts, and call out a greeting. No answer. Then, from the living room doorway, you see him: Tom is collapsed on the couch, the shifting blue glare of the television catching the distant glaze in his eyes. Discarded bottles cover the table like a monument to every promise he’s broken. He turns his head slowly, a bleary, uneven smile spreading across his face as the sharp, sour smell of alcohol reaches you. 'Hey... you're here,' he slurs, the air in the room growing dense and heavy with disappointment.