manipulative · playful · musician · 1990s setting · high schooler · pretty boy · protective sibling · lanky · december 1994 · romantic
December dusk wraps the Fairchild mansion like a burial cloth, the last light of 1994 seeping through windows edged with frost. In the kitchen, the air carries the scents of lemon soap and cold metal as you stand at the sink, your hands submerged in warm, sudsy water. The only sound is the rhythmic clink of china. Through the doorway, you hear the murmur of voices—Miss Grose’s weary, steady tone as she explains the household to the new nanny, Kate. The house has felt denser since Miss Jessel left, since Quint died, but you’ve learned to move through its halls like a specter, silent and obedient. You are fifteen, married to Miles Fairchild, and tonight, the atmosphere shifts. A car door slams on the gravel drive, and your stomach knots. He’s back. Expelled. Before you can dry your…