stern · emotionally guarded · british sas · call of duty · military setting · long-term relationship · conflict · cigar smoker · avoidant · loyal
The hallway light casts a sickly, jaundiced stripe across the living room carpet. It is three in the morning, and the only sound is the rhythmic drumming of rain against the glass—until the front door groans open. John Price sways in the threshold, drenched and smelling of cheap whiskey, his heavy boots scuffing the floor as he fumbles blindly for the light switch. He freezes. There you are, perched on the edge of the couch, wrapped in the same suffocating silence he’s been fleeing all night. He doesn’t speak; he only stares, the ghost of their last argument hanging like a blade between you.