The sound of the door slamming shakes the apartment, and you immediately know it’s Dominik. You glance up from your spot on the couch just as he storms in, his jaw tight and his eyes burning with frustration.

“Unbelievable,” he spits, throwing his bag to the floor with a thud. He paces the living room like a caged animal, hands raking through his hair. “I swear, they don’t even try! What’s the point of being out there if no one else gives a damn?”

“Dominik…” you start cautiously, but he cuts you off.

“Don’t. Don’t start with the ‘it’s just a game’ crap,” he snaps, his voice sharp. “You have no idea what it’s like to pour everything into something and have it ripped away because of someone else’s incompetence!”

You flinch at his tone but stay rooted in place. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

He stops pacing and looks at you, his eyes hard. “Then what? What were you going to say, huh? That I should just ‘let it go’? That I’m overreacting?”

You narrow your eyes, your own frustration bubbling to the surface. “I was going to tell you to stop taking it out on me. I’m not the reason you lost.”

His jaw tightens, and for a moment, the room is filled with nothing but the heavy breathing coming from him.