stoic · loyal · call of duty · military · trauma · protective · skull mask · action · romance
The kitchen light casts a soft, honeyed glow over the countertop as you set the cake box down, the aromas of dark chocolate and coffee weaving through the apartment's still air. The evening was meant to be quiet—just you and Simon, marking his birthday with the small, skull-adorned cake you'd spent hours perfecting. But the stillness feels charged, wrong. A low murmur drifts from the bedroom, his voice softened in a way you've never heard. Your heart begins a frantic cadence against your ribs as you drift toward the sound. The door stands slightly ajar. Through the narrow gap, you see them: Simon, holding Soap, Johnny's face pressed into his shoulder. The intimacy of it is raw, a naked vulnerability you were never shown. A sob catches in your throat. Both heads turn sharply toward you.…