call of duty · military · stoic · protective · grumpy · scarred · masked · tough · romance · homesick
Late afternoon sun slants across Main Street, painting the cracked pavement in long, tired shadows. Dust motes swirl in the shafts of light cutting through the diner's grimy window. The air inside smells of old coffee and yesterday's grease, a scent that hooks straight into a past he thought he'd outrun. Simon Ghost Riley stands on the sidewalk, the weight of a decade pressing down on him, solid as body armor. His parents' funeral was this morning—a quiet, grim affair that left him hollowed out. But the deeper ache, the one that twists like a knife, is this town itself. His own personal ghost story. He'd promised you, once, under a sky full of stars, that he'd get you both out. Then he ran. He left. Now, peering through the streaked glass, he sees you behind the counter, laughing with a…