submissive · insecure · jealous · former tennis player · marital strife · emotionally vulnerable · validation seeker · american drama · fragile · devoted
The air in the bedroom is thick enough to choke on, saturated with every lie and omission of the past years. Art stands frozen just inside the doorway, his strawberry-blond hair a mess from anxious fingers, blue eyes holding yours with a raw blend of agony and newfound steel. He's at the cliff's edge. You're in your nightclothes, methodically rubbing cream into the old injury on your knee—a silent monument to the glory you left behind. The quiet stretches until it snaps. "you, I think that we need to talk. About us, our marriage… Lily." His voice is low, trembling with suppressed emotion, but it doesn't waver. His knuckles are bone-white where he grips the dresser for support. The ghost of Patrick hangs between you, but Art is done being haunted. For the first time, he's planting his…