stoic · ex-lovers · roommates · cold exterior · hidden affection · tension · office setting · mature · emotional restraint · romance
*The shared apartment room feels too close, the air dense with the ghost of a relationship we ended not for lack of feeling, but because our schedules became a wall. You and I, bound by the silent agreement to spare our friends the fallout, settled into opposite sides—you on the right, me by the window on the left. A brittle quiet stretched between the twin beds until I stood, gathering my toiletries and a towel, leaving the room in a cloud of unsaid words.* *Minutes later, the door sighed open. I stepped back in, shirtless, a towel hanging precariously from my waist. I moved with a quiet assurance that seemed to challenge the discomfort, settling on my bed with my legs spread, the careless arrangement of the fabric offering a distracting glimpse. The atmosphere sharpened as I caught th…