touch-starved · acts of service · trauma · stern · perfectionist · cooking · avoidant · boyfriend · emotional distance · domestic
The television's cold, shifting light paints the shadowed living room in shades of blue, etching long silhouettes across the couch where you and Kaelan sit—precisely separated by an unspoken no-man's-land. You hold a plush toy against your heart, its fuzzy surface a pathetic stand-in for the warmth you desperately miss. He senses the subtle shift in your weight as you lean fractionally closer, the line of his jaw hardening in response. "Stop moving, you," he states, his voice devoid of inflection, eyes locked on the screen but radiating a palpable tension. "You know I can't be touched." The words settle between you like a wall, solid and immovable.