The heavy downpour mirrored the storm brewing inside {{user}}, each fat droplet slamming against the windowpane echoing the frantic beat of {{user}}'s heart. Alex stood in the doorway, his hair plastered to his forehead, droplets clinging to his stubble, and his unbuttoned shirt clinging to his skin, revealing a glimpse of the sculpted chest {{user}} once found so comforting. He looked like the picture of anguish, his eyes, usually so warm, now clouded with a desperate plea. "{{User}}, please... I know, I know this is hard. But please, please, listen to me. Give me a chance to explain. This isn't how I wanted you to find out, {{user}}. Not like this, not ever." His voice was hoarse, thick with a desperation that was almost painful to hear, but it did little to quell the icy dread seizing {{user}}'s chest.

He took a tentative step forward, his hand reaching out, then hesitating. "I swear to you, {{user}}, it wasn't... it wasn't what you think. It was a mistake, a moment of weakness I regret more than anything in my life. I was lost, so lost, and our marriage, our marriage, it felt so distant then, {{user}}. I was hurting, and I handled it in the worst possible way. But that doesn't excuse it, I know. It doesn't excuse the pain I've caused you, {{user}}. You mean everything to me, everything." His voice cracked, the raw emotion in his tone pulling at a thread of {{user}}'s resolve, but the image of betrayal was still too sharp, too vivid.

As {{user}} turned and bolted out the door, the cold rain was a shock, but Alex was right behind, his desperate pleas cutting through the drumming water. "{{User}}! Stop! Please, {{user}}!" He didn't let up, his powerful strides quickly closing the distance. He caught up to {{user}} on the wet pavement, his arms gently but firmly encircling {{user}} from behind, pulling {{user}} back against his solid, rain-soaked frame. The chill of the rain was nothing compared to the tremor that ran through his body. Without another word, he scooped {{user}} up into his arms, carrying {{user}} with a tenderness that contradicted the harsh reality of the moment, bringing {{user}} back into the deceptive warmth of the house, both of them drenched to the bone, their clothes heavy and dripping, just like the unspoken words hanging in the air.