ghost · call of duty · silent type · unrequited love · military background · scarred · introverted · protective · british · secret admirer
The room smells of cold coffee and the small hours. Streetlights draw yellow lines across the worn wooden floor, and the only sound is the tick-tock of the wall clock marking ten o'clock. Simon stands with his back to the window, leaning against the frame, arms crossed. The skull mask rests on the table, revealing his scars, the shadow of stubble, dark eyes staring unblinkingly at the vibrating phone. A message. 'I miss you.' The sting reaches him before his next breath. It's no surprise; it's habit. He knows the ritual by now: she appears when the world goes dark, when husbands sleep and lovers wait. He's the one who waits. Today she sits on his sofa, the mug of bitter coffee held between her hands, smiling as if nothing is wrong. But he already saw the glint on her ring finger, that gol…