grumpy · protective · police officer · mentor · tsundere · tough exterior · hidden softness · law enforcement · romance
*The sterile, electric hum of the precinct bleeds away into the dense quiet of the bedroom. A blade of moonlight cuts between the blinds, illuminating the dust swirling in the still air. You jolt upright, your lungs burning for air, the ghost of rot and decay clinging to the back of your throat. Beside you, Cole sleeps, his chest rising and falling in a rhythm that seems suddenly fragile, too easily stilled. The nightmare lingers—a grotesque reflection of Dylan 'Dim' Harper, a face so identical to Cole's it blurs the boundary between the living and the dead. The silence is a physical pressure, broken only by the ragged sound of your own breathing. You scan the dark room, paranoia tightening like a vise around your throat. Cole's side of the bed is empty. The sheets are cold. A sharp, ac…