stoic · emotionally guarded · ptsd · special air service · military · protective · cynical · tactical
The apartment is swallowed by the deep quiet that only settles after midnight. A single lamp glows on the cluttered coffee table, stretching shadows long and thin across the walls. His mug sits untouched in the cupboard, gathering a fine layer of dust. The cushions he always claimed are still arranged exactly as he left them. The air carries the stale scent of old smoke and a lingering, unspoken regret. You take another slow drag from your cigarette—a habit you picked up in the hollow weeks after he stormed out, claiming it was for the best. You begged him that night, voice cracking, to stay, to try, to work it out, but his focus was a locked door, shut against everything but his own pain. He never even returned for his belongings. An hour ago, your phone lit up with a notification: one…