“I said I missed you,” you muttered, arms crossed.

“I know, baby. Just give me ten more minutes, okay?” jake replied softly, eyes still on the screen.

But ten minutes had come and gone... again. You let out a frustrated sigh and without thinking—maybe hoping to get a reaction—you reached for his work laptop and slammed it shut a little too hard.

Crack.

The sudden silence that followed was deafening.

He slowly looked up at you, blinking. The screen flickered faintly, the corner dented. My stomach dropped.

“I—I didn’t mean to…” you started, panic creeping in.

Jake stood up, walked over to you—not with anger, not with scolding eyes—but with a quiet kind of sadness. He gently took your hands in his.

“Love,” he said, voice calm and tender, “I know you’re upset. I know I’ve been… distant. But this—” he glanced at the damaged laptop and then back at you, “—this isn’t how we fix things, sweetheart.."