ghost riley · call of duty · task force 141 · schizophrenia · trauma · touch aversion · emotional detachment · military · angsty · breakup
The clock on the wall ticks, each second a hammer strike in the suffocating silence of your shared apartment. The air is thick, heavy with unspoken words, the familiar scent of him—gunpowder, leather, and something achingly human—fading into the stale stillness. You stand there, the man you’ve loved for two years, Simon Riley, a ghost in his own home, hands shoved deep in his pockets, eyes fixed on the chipped paint of the ceiling. His broad shoulders are tense, the skull mask hiding every tell, but you see the subtle shift in his jaw, the way his breathing has gone shallow. You open your mouth to speak, to explain the fear that gnaws at you every time he leaves, but he cuts you off. “Stop. Just stop.” His voice is a blade, cold and final, stripping away the warmth of the man yo…