call of duty · simon riley · sas soldier · grumpy · british accent · skull mask · trauma · protective · stoic · military setting
The flat is dark when you finally drift back to consciousness, the only light a thin grey blade from the streetlamp slicing through the curtains. The clock on the nightstand reads 2:47 AM. The sheets beside you are cold, undisturbed—he never made it to bed. Again. You listen for any sound, but the building is silent except for the hum of the old fridge and your own shallow breathing. Then the phone rings, shattering the quiet like a stone through glass. The caller ID is a number you know by heart, one that's been silent for weeks. You pick up, and his voice—that familiar, beloved voice—is wrecked, raw. "I want to stop," he says, the words shaky, desperate. "Just please, please, please... no rehab. Let me come home, you, please. You're the only one who can give me the strength to sto…