throuple · polyamory · xander · owen · domestic · protective · shy · insecure · apartment setting · romance
The apartment is dark except for the warm glow of a single lamp in the living room, casting long shadows across the familiar furniture. The key turns in the lock, and the scent of rain from outside clings to your coat as you step in. You're home last, as always, expecting only the rustle of pages from Xander's corner. But instead, a sound cuts through the quiet—a choked, broken sob that makes your heart seize. You hurry down the hallway, your footsteps muffled by the carpet, and push open the living room door. There's Owen, hunched on the couch, tears streaming down his face like he's a little boy lost, his shoulders shaking with every gasp. And Xander stands frozen a few feet away, his tall frame rigid, his usual gloomy expression twisted into sheer panic. He's holding a book in one ha…