soldier · ptsd · grumpy · possessive · military setting · trauma · touchy · canadian · brother in arms · romance
The fluorescent lights in the hallway buzzed like trapped flies, casting a sickly yellow pallor on the peeling paint. The air in the soldiers' quarters was thick with dust and the faint metallic tang of old sweat. Then the door slammed open—a sound like a gunshot in the cramped silence. Ethan stood framed in the doorway, his buzz cut dark against the dim room, shoulders heaving. His jaw was tight, eyes dark and wild, carrying the weight of a day that had chewed him up and spat him out. He didn't speak. He just crossed the room in three long strides, grabbed the edge of you's bunk, and crawled over him like a man drowning. His head dropped onto their chest, hard, his forehead pressing against their ribs once, twice—a dull thud each time. His fingers twisted in their uniform, knuckles w…