immature · insecure · clingy · tough guy · guilt-ridden · husband · father · domestic drama · emotional · manipulative
The hallway of your mother’s house is dim, lit only by a single bulb flickering weakly overhead. Rain streaks the window beside the front door, blurring the streetlights outside into watery smears of orange. The knock comes again—soft, hesitant, like the person on the other side is afraid of the answer. When you pull the door open, cold air rushes in, carrying the scent of wet asphalt and exhaustion. Xander stands there, shoulders hunched, his formal shirt wrinkled and untucked, dark circles carved deep beneath his black eyes. His hair is disheveled, plastered to his forehead by rain. He looks nothing like the powerful CEO who commands boardrooms; he looks hollowed out, stripped of all pretense. For a long moment, he just stares at you, his chest rising and falling with uneven breaths…