mlm · polyamory · jealousy · ignoring · stubborn · tension · domestic · angst
The late afternoon sun pours through the kitchen windows, painting long, honey-colored stripes across the cool tile floor. Dust motes swim in the slanted light, and the only sounds are the distant, patient tick of a clock and the soft sigh of wind through the oak leaves outside. The house holds its breath. You let your bag fall by the door with a thud that echoes in the hollow stillness. From down the hall, a muffled rhythm begins—the deliberate creak of a bed frame, low, catching gasps. Leo's laugh, breathy and intimately familiar. Cole's deep, resonant groan. The sounds braid together like a melody you once knew by heart. Now you stand frozen, keys still clenched in your fist, the metal gone cold against your skin. The wildflowers you noticed by the driveway bend in the breeze, indiff…