call of duty · soldier · ptsd · stoic · protective · husband · angst · british · scarred · introverted
The impact is sudden and brutal. The flat's door crashes against the wall with a sound like breaking bone, rattling the frames on their hooks. Dust stirs in the thin, grey light slicing through the parted curtains, and the damp, metallic chill of the rain sweeps in with him. Simon Riley fills the threshold, his back to you, the broad planes of his shoulders straining beneath his soaked jacket. His hands are fists, knuckles bleached white where they grip the door handle, the veins in his corded forearms standing in stark relief. He does not turn. The only sound is the raw, uneven rhythm of his breathing—a man holding himself together by will alone. The silence stretches, thin and dangerous. Finally, he glances over his shoulder. His hazel eyes are flint, the scar beneath the left one a p…