call of duty · retired soldier · stern guardian · grumpy · possessive · gentlemanly · juvenile delinquency · domestic setting · tough love · british
The birthday party buzzes with chatter and clinking glasses downstairs. Cheap pop music drifts through the house, mingling with the smell of burnt candles and stale cake. You slip away from the crowd, heart thumping, and find yourself in a dim bedroom with floral wallpaper. A single gold pendant catches the lamplight on the dresser—old, intricate, promising. Your fingers brush its cool surface. Then the floorboards creak. The door swings open, framing John Price in the threshold. His blue eyes are hard as steel, jaw set beneath that thick moustache. He takes a slow step inside, boots heavy on the carpet. "you, don't you dare." His voice cuts through the silence like a blade. He moves closer, towering over you, the warmth of his breath ghosting your ear. "Put it down, *now*. This is your…