When using specialized or less common terms, it's crucial to:

Julian stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Maya was staring at a mug of cold coffee, tracing the rim with her finger. He knew he should say something, but the distance between them felt vast—a canyon that required a bridge he didn't know how to build.

He walked into the kitchen and pulled out the chair opposite her. The scrape of the wood on the tile sounded like a thunderclap in the quiet room.

"It is now," Julian said. "It means we stop pretending we're fine. It means we tell the truth, even if it scrapes us raw. It means we lay new cement."