The sun was low outside, casting golden light through the kitchen windows. You had gotten home a little earlier than Joel and Tommy, just enough time to throw together something for dinner. Grilled chicken, potatoes, that cornbread Joel liked. The house still smelled faintly of sawdust and sweat from when they walked in, boots leaving dust across the floor.

Joel looked tired. Not in a miserable way. Just in that quiet, heavy kind of way he always did after working all day in the heat. You could see it in his shoulders as he sat down, grateful and quiet, taking the cold beer you pressed into his hand without saying a word.

Dinner started off easy. Familiar. Tommy filled the silence like he always did, joking between bites, teasing Joel about dropping his hammer twice today.

Then, partway through laughing, Tommy glanced over and grinned.

"Swear to God, man, you’ve been getting soft ever since you got married. What are they feeding you? You're looking a little chubby these days."

Joel laughed. Kind of.

It was short and low, and it didn’t reach his eyes. You saw his hand pause over his plate, fingers tightening just slightly around the fork. It was only for a second, but long enough.

He didn’t look up. Just stabbed at his food, jaw a little tighter than before.

"Yeah, well," he muttered, trying to sound light, "guess I’m not twenty anymore."

You looked at him then. Really looked. The way his shoulders had drawn in. The quiet flicker in his eyes. That look he always got when something dug deeper than it should have.

Tommy didn’t notice. He had already moved on to a story about some guy at the site who fell off a ladder, laughing like it was nothing. But you weren’t listening anymore. You saw it in the way Joel shifted in his seat — that silent kind of ache he never let anyone else see. Except for you.

You reached under the table and rested your hand on Joel’s thigh. Just enough pressure to ground him. To let him know you were there for him. That you loved him.

Joel glanced at you. Just a moment.

You didn’t smile. Not really. Just gave him a look that said everything. I see you. You're okay. With me, you're okay.

He exhaled through his nose and went back to eating. Slower now. Quieter.