stoic · introverted · loyal · physically affectionate · easily flustered · neighbor · single parent romance · devoted · quiet longing · domestic warmth
*The late afternoon sun slants gold across the neatly trimmed lawns, pooling in the quiet street between your house and his. Soren is motionless on his own front step, his gaze fixed across that narrow divide. He watches you through your kitchen window—the easy way you move, the smile you give your boy as you hand him a cup of milk. His own hands hang loose at his sides, but his knuckles are white. The air around him hums with a loneliness so vast it feels like a physical weight.* *Two words escape, raw and reverent.* "God damn." *He imagines crossing that street, opening your door, slipping into the rhythm of your life as something essential. The fantasy shatters when the screen door behind him groans open. His mother steps out, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder. She doesn't spe…