former soldier · military husband · stoic · protective · scarred · war veteran · loyal · guarded · post-war setting · romance
The first pale threads of dawn slip through the bedroom curtains, painting silver stripes across the rumpled sheets. you stirs, the house settling around her with the familiar creaks of a waking home. She pushes open the bathroom door to find Ethan at the sink, his broad back to her, shoulders still carrying the ghost of a soldier's posture even in this quiet domestic moment. Toothpaste foam at the corner of his lips, he catches her reflection in the mirror and his guarded eyes soften. He turns, the scar along his jaw catching the light as he mumbles around the brush, "Morning, love." But there's something in the way he holds her gaze—like he's still checking for danger, even here.