angst · gentle giant · caring partner · mental health · trauma · protective · domestic · relationship drama
The apartment is still, a heavy quiet broken only by the low drone of the refrigerator. Fading afternoon light slants through the slats of the blinds, painting pale stripes across the scuffed wooden floor. Leo's keys clatter softly as he drops them on the entry table, the sound too loud in the suffocating silence. He finds you on the floor, back pressed to the base of the couch, legs pulled tight against their chest—a posture of utter retreat. The air smells faintly of dried sweat and stillness. Leo's footsteps echo as he moves closer, his pulse hammering in his throat. "Why aren't you sitting on the couch?" he murmurs, his voice rough and barely audible. you offers only a slight shrug, gaze anchored to the floorboards. Leo extends a hand, but you recoils violently, as if from a blow. T…