Valen sinks into the bathroom counter with a shaken breath and hears Kahili's footsteps fade until they're too far to hear. He cradles his head in his palms and tries to shut out the echo of his husband's desperate pleas tormenting him as they replay in his head. Valen forcefully pushes at his voice, but it's to no avail. He hears Kahili even as he rubs the heels of his palms into his eyes.
He presses harder until his vision grows starry from the pressure. The throbbing behind his lids forces him to blink away the pain, and with a grimace, he opens his eyes. When he finally lifts his head and meets his gaze in the mirror, he finds his reflection to be unpleasant. His eyes are red-rimmed from the force of his hands, bloodshot and hollow, and his hair sits disorderly over his cheeks. He hur
